


Sic Ardet Mundi

by orphan_account



Category: Promare (2019), Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Artificial Intelligence, Background Queerplatonic Relationship, FINE i guess ill post this stupidly indulgent thing, Fantasy discrimination, Forced Cannibalism, Hinted Galolio, Human Experimentation, Medical Experimentation, Mild Gore, Multi, Mutual Guilt, Please read the beginning A/N for more info and dont be afraid to ask questions, Social Media, but not as much as you’d expect from a tg au. also surprisingly lighthearted for one, enough human rights violations to fill the supreme courthouse, i haven’t read tg since mid-series 1 so this is just me playing in ishida’s sandbox, mutual crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:34:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22155523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Thus burns the worldThyma knew from a young age that she was very, very lucky. She had her parents, she was starting a respectable education at Phoenix University, she was a registered citizen, and she had a regular meal schedule.Among ghouls, this was an indescribable blessing.--[Mad Burnish silently took control of the ghoul population in the 22nd ward. From there, everything spirals.]
Relationships: Aina Ardebit & Galo Thymos, Lio Fotia & Thyma, Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos- hinted, Promare & Everybody
Comments: 21
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> the location specifics are kept vague on purpose, in true Promare fashion. Also i have serious bias for Thyma so she plays an actual role in this! And to avoid confusion just in case, ‘band’ is what ghouls call a group of ghouls. ‘Gang’ is usually the go-to term humans use for groups of ghouls.
> 
> Okay, quick preface- the Galolio will pretty much only be hinted at or implied. This isn’t due to any dislike of the ship at all! The truth is I'm very aro and basically allergic to writing romance beyond crushes. Trust me y’all I have tried. Galo and Lio do end up with romantic feelings for each other, but it doesn’t really go anywhere in the context of the story because oh my god there is so much shit going on that frankly would take priority. Tl;dr Galolio good but writing romance hard.

Thyma knew from a young age that she was very, very lucky. She had her parents, she was starting a respectable education at Phoenix University, she was a registered citizen, and she had a regular meal schedule.

Among ghouls, this was an indescribable blessing. 

She didn’t remember much about her early life; she only had stories to go off of, like her father meeting her papa, and a few from her papa’s youth escaping from CCG investigators. She still giggled sometimes when Papa told the story of meeting a human embalmer while he raided a funeral home for food. Father, the embalmer, said he’d been scared out of his mind seeing a ghoul, and blurted out, “They don’t need their guts but I need mine- please don’t eat me!”

Papa was, to be frank, not very intimidating among ghouls. Even Thyma was stronger than him, with her RC count inherited from a mother now dead after chasing Doves. 

One thing led to another; the funeral home became their food source, their meetings turned into strange dates, and Papa moved in with Father. 

Funny, how a chance encounter probably saved Thyma from a hard life scrabbling on the outskirts of some ghoul’s territory for scraps. Instead, she took nightly strolls for fun, going roof-hopping and scouting out the territory markers on the campus city outskirts. Masked, of course. You could never be too careful. 

And now, faced with a trio of ghouls flaring their kakugan at her and smelling sour with hunger, she decided to pay it forward. 

“I don’t recognize you, and your scent isn’t on any of the boundaries. Are you new here?” Thyma asked, keeping her coiled rinkaku close to the surface of her skin, just in case. 

The shortest one, the ghoul in the dragon mask, took the lead. “Yes. This isn’t your territory, either.” A note of challenge. 

“No, I have a steady enough food source,” Thyma agreed. “And really? You look like you could use one.”

“What’s the catch?” Said the tallest behind Dragon-mask.

Good, they picked up what she was suggesting. “Nothing major, actually. Just keeping quiet, don’t draw attention to the ward. And don’t,” She added, hoping her posturing was enough of an implied bluff, “hunt at the university.” 

“That won’t be a problem.” The leader waved off, visibly trying not to look too eager. “We don’t kill humans.”

Thyma had to stop her jaw from dropping. No wonder they were so hungry! 

“But how do you feed yourselves? That’s not sustainable without a steady source!”

“Successful suicides, mostly.” Grunted the third ghoul, the one wearing sunglasses and a medical mask. “Cops started keeping a hawk’s eye on it after so many dead, so we had to bail.”

Thyma winced. “Yeah, that’ll do it. C’mon, just looking at you is making me feel hungry. My apartment isn’t far from here.”

The trio were clearly wary of such a generous offer, and even with her kagune and kakugan tucked away and her body language bleeding sincerity, they still moved with caution. Smart of them, really. 

Keeping to the shaded alleyways and high walls, it wasn’t long before Thyma and her guests reached her building. Quietly, she leapt onto the fire escape and ascended to the third floor, where her window was cracked open. She checked behind her to ensure the ghouls were still following her before shoving it open and tumbling inside. 

The dragon-leader’s head poked through the window, scanning the room and scenting for danger. Finding none, he slid through, followed by his cohorts. 

Thyma wasted no time flicking on the lights and divesting herself of her butterfly mask. She squinted at the bright light from the opened fridge and rummaged through it, making a little victory noise when she found the brown wrapped packages hidden behind the beef in the meat drawer. Most of the ‘care packages’ she brought from her parents’ house ended up in the freezer, but Thyma kept a few on-hand in the fridge just in case.

“Come up the counter please! I don’t want blood on my carpet.” Thyma threw over her shoulder. 

Behind their masks the ghouls looked wary still, but at the scent of blood their kakugan had triggered. Thyma tossed the packages onto the fake granite and sheepishly invited them to eat. 

“I, uh, ate last week. So I’m good!” 

Once the brown paper and saran wrap came off, instinct replaced caution and the hungry ghouls tore into the packed-in organs. With their masks cast off, Thyma actually got a good look at them. The tallest ghoul with the jagged motorcycle helmet-mask had long, lank hair beneath his hood and a serious face. Sunglasses, as she’d mentally called him, kept himself between Thyma and his comrades, clearly used to acting as a lookout. The shortest one, the dragon, somewhat saddened her- he looked to be a few years younger than Thyma, who wasn’t even twenty yet. 

Young ghouls acting on their own wasn’t uncommon, but still. It shouldn't have to be this way.

The food had disappeared down their throats in a flash, and Thyma could see a bit more light come back into their eyes. She brought their attention to her by waving towards the couch. 

“If you need to, you can crash here for the night. There’s blankets and pillows on the couch.”

Dragon squinted at her. “You’re putting a lot of trust into a couple of strays you’ve never met before.”

“Oh, I know. Consider this as me… paying it forward, in a way. Someone did the same for me, a long time ago.”

“... Thank you.” He said, eyes widening. His friends were already poking through the blankets, and Dragon went to join them while Thyma bundled up the bloody wrappings to toss them into the garbage. 

When she passed by the couch, Dragon’s whisper caught her attention. 

“Hey- what should we call you?”

“My name is Thyma. I don’t have a code name, actually.”

Ponderous silence. 

“My name is Lio.”

And that was definitely his real name, and not a street name. Interesting. 

“Sleep well then, Lio.” Thyma said, turning off the lights and heading to her own room. 

Her guests were certainly quiet, and despite the lingering anxiety, Thyma slept soundly. 

When she blindly slammed her alarm clock off and opened her door, rubbing her eyes at the morning sun peering through the window, all that remained of her guests were crooked pillows and unfolded blankets. 

She wished the best for them, really. Lio seemed like a good kid, with self-righteous fire in his eyes when not clouded by hunger. She never did get the names of his friends, though. 

——

Five years on, when Thyma was twenty-four with business degree in hand, Lio appeared in her apartment once more. He hadn’t gotten any taller, but he looked more assured now; lean and dangerous, like a viper. 

He told her his band, the Mad Burnish, had taken the majority of the ward as their territory. 

He told her about the territory policy: minimal human-hunting, with no innocents targeted. 

He said he never did forget what she did for him and Geuira and Meis.

He offered her any reasonable favor, now that he could pay her back. 

Thyma thought about her business degree collecting dust, and a two-story storefront for sale outside the Phoenix campus, and had an idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thyma, Gueira, and Meis are 19 here. Lio is 16. After the prologue just tack on 5 years to that for their ages in the fic proper.  
Also, quick reminder: I’m just playing in the TG sandbox. Chances are you’ll see minor things about how ghouls work have been changed and rest assured this is entirely intentional.
> 
> And lastly, consider this a gift to the discord server- the au came up in discussion and I just fuckin ran with it. Enjoy!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aina and Galo’s friendship is honestly just. Everything to me.
> 
> Admittedly getting into the mental dissonance for dove!Galo was... kinda hard. Hopefully it turned out ok.

Galo liked to think he’d done well with his life. He felt so much gratitude to the CCG taking in an orphan like him and giving him the education and job he had now. But more importantly, he got to help people, and save lives. Investigation was demanding, and bloody, and deadly, but Galo thought it was worth it, to see people happy and carefree on the streets. 

And he owed so much of this to his hero, Kray Foresight. It really was inspiring, what Kray did. The man was a noncombatant scientist, but he’d still rescued Galo from the house where his parents were being eaten, risking life and limb for a child who surely would’ve been ghoul food. And even then, Kray still pulled strings so that Galo would be fast-tracked into the 22nd ward office’s topmost investigator squad. 

Due to their large size and skilled membership, Ignis Squad was assigned the most dangerous cases; full-sized ghoul gangs, binge eaters, serial killers. Associate Special Class Investigator Ignis even took down a kakuja nearly a decade ago.

Galo loved his squad, with all the warmth and fire in his heart, so of course he encouraged everyone to go with him and Lucia to hang out after work on a Sunday. Not like anyone could really deny Lucia whether they wanted to or not- she had that effect on people. 

Despite the name, ‘Superfly’ wasn’t exactly the trendy close-to-campus bar that he thought. It wasn’t very busy for a Sunday night, and the environment was warm, with low lighting and varnished wooden tables surrounded by red booths.

“Huh, this is classier than I would’ve expected from Lucia,” Remi remarked after they seated themselves. 

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean! I’ll have you know I’m _very_ classy.” Lucia protested. 

While Remi countered back with a “Well, actually-”, Galo took care to tuck his briefcase under the table- investigators were encouraged to always be armed, but weapon safety was always the priority around civilians. 

The man who rolled by to take their order actually might’ve looked too young to work at a bar if not for the bladed look in his violet eyes. He was a bit terse and clipped taking their order, but Galo didn’t hold it against him. Nobody liked to be working on a weekend evening, after all. 

Lucia butted in and ordered a round of beers for everyone, because R&D had promoted her and she was such a _generous_ coworker. Galo couldn't actually tell if that was sarcasm or not.

Galo was content to let the others engage in small talk about work while he and Varys had a thrilling debate on the best way to eat pizza, and Galo was maybe starting to see the merit of rolling a pie up and eating it like a burrito when the food arrived. Lucia didn’t even wait for the waitress to put down the plate of wings n’ rings before snatching an onion ring and shoving it in her mouth. 

To her credit, the waitress didn’t seem surprised at all; if anything she looked amused while Aina scolded Lucia for poor table manners. 

Before she could go, Galo grabbed her attention. 

“‘Scuse me! Is the waiter that was here earlier fine? He left before we could pay…”

“Oh, Lio? He’s fine, just… feeling ill, is all. I can take care of your check.” The waitress said. 

“Hold on a minute then-” Galo asked, digging into his wallet and shoving a few crumpled bills in her direction. “If he’s feeling sick, can you at least give him some of the tip money?”

Smiling, she took the cash. “Of course. Have a nice night, Mr. Investigator.” She said, turning around in a whirl of fluffy brown hair. 

“Sure thing!” Galo called back. “Wait, how did she know I’m an investigator?”

“Galo, the briefcases stacked under the table aren't exactly inconspicuous.” Aina sighed. 

“Oh, yeah, that makes sense.” 

He reached out for the plate of greasy bar food and had to take a moment to himself after a bite. Because forget the beer, these were the _best wings he’d ever tasted_. 

If Lucia was trying to convince her friends that Superfly was the perfect weekend hangout spot, she’d damn well succeeded. 

——

Lio was convinced the returning gaggle of rowdy Doves was his personal curse, delivered twice weekly and sickeningly nice, as if they weren’t using desecrated corpses as footrests under the booth table.

Lio hadn’t smelled his mother in a decade before now, and despite his resolve not to kill without reason, he had to physically leave the room the first time he smelled that quinque lest he leap over the table and snap that blue-eyed dove’s neck. At least Thyma was understanding, and gave him some time to collect himself.

The Dove even sent Thyma back with extra tips when he heard Lio was ‘sick’. And Lio fucking hated it, how the Doves were friendly with him and his coworkers as they became regulars, and his veneer of sociability started to become genuine. He felt like he was disrespecting Kenna’s memory somehow by laughing at Lucia’s needling while his mother remained unburied and unrespected.

It didn’t help that Galo, as his name was, truthfully was just that nice of a person. He asked after his ‘recovering flu’, he always sent a tip back to Thyma for cooking the food, and his boisterous attitude was entirely focused on helping people. He didn’t have the eyes of a killer, as baffling and intriguing the concept sounded.

At one point during a break, Aina waved him over.

“C’mon, dude, this is the first time we’ve seen you not working! I’ll treat you to a drink!”

Caught off guard, Lio scrabbled for an excuse. “I don’t drink, sorry.”

“Aw, still, at least take a load off, eat some nachos!” Galo piped up from the side, gently grasping Lio’s wrist and directing him to sit in their booth, more a suggestion than a demand. Even if Lio had been human, it would have been simple to extract his hand from Galo’s

And okay, fine, maybe he sincerely enjoyed their easy company, and the laughter they provoked, and Galo’s stupid smile that hid absolutely nothing. The dichotomy of camaraderie and a sense of betrayal settled as a sticky lump in his gut, but he was actually fairly tired of being on his feet.

It was easy enough to lean back and let the good-natured ribbing coast over his head and just relax, but then the conversation got _interesting_.

“So, is everyone ready for the Tarot mission tomorrow?” Remi asked, and Lio tried not to look too interested. Work talk at the bar, huh?

“Remi!” Aina snapped, looking poised to smack his head from across the table. “There’s a civilian here!”

“Aw, don’t worry about it, I’m sure Lio won’t go looking for ghoul trouble.” Galo said, looking to Lio for affirmation.

Lio snorted. “Yeah, no thanks. I like my limbs attached to my body.”

“See!” Galo brightened. “It’s not like this is a massive operation anyways. Just a few of the Tarot gang holing up in the southernmost part of the ward.”

He frowned, looking concerned. “I just wanna get it over with as soon as possible, y’know? From what we know only Chariot and Hanged Man are here, but they’ve already killed people.”

… _Motherfuckers_. Lio knew the Arcana band, as they called themselves, never stuck around long enough to get caught, instead choosing to hop wards and leave the predominant band to deal with their attention-grabbing hunts.

Which meant the Burnish, in this case. Figures.

“That sounds… concerning. Ghouls are dangerous, so stay safe, okay?” Lio assured, while silently plotting just how many limbs he would divest the intruding Arcana of before they got the point that they weren’t welcome in Burnish territory. Too bad they didn’t have a permanent base of operations he could burn down.

“Of course I will! Otherwise I’ll never get to touch Thyma’s food again!” Galo declared, punctuating his declaration of love for bar food by cramming a nacho into Lio’s mouth. Instinctively, Lio’s jaws snapped shut in a mild warning bite, shaking his head free from Galo’s food-flinging range.

“Ow! What was that for?” Galo whined, much to the amusement of a snickering Remi and a cackling Lucia.

Lio used every ounce of self-control possible not to pull a face, crunching the vile chip in his mouth and swallowing it, fruitlessly pretending the scratchy mass creeping down his throat was some freshly cracked finger bones instead.

It didn’t work. Lio felt like vomiting.

“Yeah, well don’t shove your fingers into people’s mouths, Galo,” Lio snapped, pleasant mood shrinking exponentially as the aftertaste of corn lingered in his mouth.

Varys, usually the quiet one, shook his head in mock despair. “We raised you better than that, Galo.”

Lucia nearly snorted up her beer. “Yeah, Galo, what will Ignis say when he hears the squishy newbie was making an ass of our reputation?”

“Hey, I’m not a newbie anymore! I’m a Rank One Investigator!”

Lio felt an army of ants march down his spine. Rank One. Not a Special Class, but nobody got there without at least several confirmed kills, not that he’d heard of.

Abruptly, Lio stood up. “Thanks for the conversation, but I really should be getting back to work. I’ll see you next week.”

He shouldn’t be here with them.

And he had a raid to plan, anyways. The Arcana would learn to respect the 22nd ward territory boundaries, whether they wanted to or not.

——  
Galo’s morning began early, as the Ignis Squad piled into their van to hit the warehouse the Tarot were squatting in. The timing for operations was always essential, Ignis drilled into them. Ghouls had a bizarrely flexible circadian rhythm, and could adjust themselves to either a diurnal or fully nocturnal lifestyle.

So, here Galo was, up at the asscrack of dawn stalking into a dilapidated warehouse with Aina, Remi, and Varys. Varys had taken the lead, his defensive combat style deemed perfect to cover the rest of them. 

Galo winced when the rusted sliding door screeched and creaked with enough noise to wake the dead. Well, there went their element of surprise-

Something glinted in front of them, and Galo’s reflexes allowed him a glimpse of an ominous black gladiator’s helmet before the Chariot’s massive koukaku shoved them all outside, Varys’s quinque shield saving them all from being skewered. 

Galo wasted no time whipping out Ryuto and squeezing off a few shots, knowing that the ukaku quinque wouldn’t be enough to pierce the defensive Chariot’s bulk. 

But it provided an ample distraction for Varys to knock the ghoul off-balance and keep their attention off Aina and Remi. Now thoroughly occupied by the trio of investigators, Chariot wasn’t long for this world, and Galo scanned the area for the other Tarot that was supposed to be around here. 

There! The glint of light on a mask! Galo pelted after the ghoul, ignoring Aina’s cry of “Galo, get back here!”

He _knew_ splitting up was against protocol, but the Tarot were infamously slippery and there was already a body count nearing the dozens. If Galo could take the chance to cut them off from more kills, he’d take it. 

The silhouette grew smaller as the ghoul in question fled the warehouse and weaved between the alleyways. Galo’s feet pounded on the pavement with all thoughts of stealth vanished from his mind, all of his single-minded focus dedicated to finding the other Tarot member. 

Galo followed them into one of the many warehouses in the district; this one was empty, lit only by a few industrial-strength bare bulbs and containing a few pallets of… something. 

There was no ghoul so be seen. 

Cautious, Galo readied Ryuto and inspected the corners behind the pallets, anxiety dancing across his nerves. There was the stropping hiss of something smooth and scaly rasping over metal. 

Galo looked up.

The Hanged Man, upside-down mask grinning balefully, swung down at Galo from the rafters like a spider, cracking the pavement with a single rinkaku prong when Galo jumped out of the way. Recklessly, Galo forced a charged shot through Ryuto, but the vivid projectile sunk harmlessly into the kagune. 

Galo pulled out the unfolding quinque steel blade he kept for close range fights; shooting one-handed was far from ideal, but he was way too close to fully exploit Ryuto’s ukaku proficiencies. 

When a blue-pink ukaku spike erupted from the Hanged Man’s neck, the only thing Galo could think was ‘_I didn’t shoot that_.’

And he didn’t. The projectile originated from what _must_ be another ghoul, dragon-masked and dressed like a casual biker. Short, hood pulled up tight so not a strand of hair was shown, and absolutely _pissed_, if the guttural growling was anything to go by. 

The Hanged Man turned away from Galo, and he would’ve been offended at being classified as something ignorable if it didn’t save his life.

The newcomer spoke first, a deceptively soft voice overlayed by the snarl’s vibrations. “Arcana. Tell me, did you not know my laws for the ward, or did you choose to conveniently forget them?”

The Hanged Man giggled, a strangely demure and feminine sound coming from a ghoul with kagune waving and kakugan fully flared. “Oh, dear me, did I forget? I’m sorry, but passing up 'innocents'? Burying your inedible leftovers? Please, who could ever remember to do that?”

“Evidently not you. Now get out of my territory!” Dragon-mask demanded, unfurling scaly ukaku and turning Hanged Man into a pincushion. She yelped and leapt out of the way, only to be caught by an extended wing and batted back onto the floor. Her answering three-pronged lunge was neatly dodged and she growled when her rinkaku were pinned to the floor by Dragon-mask’s kagune projectiles. 

Her snarl turned into an agonized howl when the scaly ukaku scythed down like a guillotine and severed all of her bladed tentacles. 

Whoever Dragon-mask was, he was in a completely different league than Hanged Man. 

Despite the ferocity and bloody nature of it, there was something… strangely elegant about the fight. Galo had always thought territorial disputes among ghouls were more wild, more animalistic. And it was, in a way; no less vicious, but more calculated. 

Now pinned by her opponent, Hanged Man hissed weakly. 

“Don’t come back. The 22nd ward is _mine_.” Dragon-mask commanded. 

The Hanged Man stayed, coiled like a spring, and then twitched her head to the side. Satisfied, Dragon-mask let her up. She fled without another word, drooping rinkaku trailing blood behind her. 

Galo was left in the warehouse alone with a ghoul already proven to be more hazardous than the Tarot member, armed only with a long-range weapon and a simple quinque steel blade. 

Before Galo would even lift Ryuto, the ghoul spoke to him, rather than turning him into a pincushion. 

“What are you still doing here? Leave.”

Talking instead of fighting, okay, that’s… weird. Maybe he’d get out of this alive after all, if his squad could find him in time. 

“Yeah, well there’s still a ghoul here, so it’s my business!” Galo retorted, keeping his quinque trained on him all the while. 

“It isn’t, actually. She killed a human on my turf, she paid the price for it.”

“Food-stealing pisses you bastards off that much, huh?” Galo’s heart was racing, now that Dragon-mask’s full attention was undeniably on him. 

“We don’t hunt people.”

Galo’s brain stuttered for a moment, because _what_? How did _that_ make sense?

“Are you vegetarian?” He blurted out. 

The ghoul seemed genuinely dumbfounded. “Uh, no? I don’t kill people to eat.”

Dragon-mask tensed, ukaku wavering and stance taut. “Seems like your friends are here. Hopefully I’ll never see you on the battlefield again.”

With that the ghoul bolted with all the speed associated with his kagune type, leaving Galo in the dust of one of the most jarring conversations he’d ever had. 

And like the ghoul claimed, his squad members burst into the warehouse with weapons at the ready, visibly confused to find neither a dead ghoul or a dead Galo. 

Aina rushed up to him first, patting down his arms and sides to make sure everything was attached and none of his guts were spilling out. Then she smacked him across the back of his head- gently, but with enough force behind it to reproach. 

“I cannot _believe_ you went off like that! The Hanged Man is S rank and you thought you could take it on your own!?” 

“Yeesh, I know, I know, I was stupid. But it turned out okay!”

“Hey, Galo?” Remi asked from where he was investigating the splatters of blood and daubs of evaporating kagune fluid. “Shouldn’t the Hanged Man be dead, if you’re not?”

“Actually… she got away. Another ghoul showed up and drove her out. Apparently this was his territory?” Galo explained, feeling sheepish. 

“Okay then, where’s this ghoul then?” 

“That’s the thing, he just talked to me for a bit and then… left. Said he didn’t let his gang hunt people in the ward.”

“Wait, how would they eat? Nevermind, describe to me what he looked like.” Remi said. 

“Well his kagune was real bright, like pink and blue. Looked kinda like real sharp bat wings.” Galo recounted. “His mask looked like a black dragon’s, too.”

Remi looked stricken, and even the ever-steady Varys appeared worried, fidgeting with his quinque and looking at the back door as if the ghoul would come back any moment. 

“Galo.” Aina said softly. “You saw Prometheus. You’re a ghoul investigator who spoke to him and _lived_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Governance on the ghoul side of things is pretty damn loose, of course. Generally a larger band has a corresponding larger territory, and any individual ghoul territories under that umbrella fall under the band’s rules. Unless the ruling band is super antagonistic, the ghouls living under their territory rules are also offered light protection by the band leaders. So in the case of the Burnish, you have the four leaders > wholesale Burnish band members > mostly unaffiliated ghouls living under the territory rules.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, making lio’s birthday the day the great fire of london started: i’m hilarious.
> 
> Sorry about the short chapter and the long wait! PAX kicked my ass.

**PROFILE**

Alias : Prometheus

Name : Unknown

Status : At large

Kagune : [U] Magenta and blue

Mask : Full mask, black, dragon.

Sex : M

Rating : S+

Affiliation : Colossus [S], Mantis [S], Calyptra [B]

Last Known Location : 22nd Ward, Promepolis, NM

Behavior : Hidden and difficult to track. Only appears when other ghouls are already present, most notably when in combat against investigators or other ghouls. 

_ WARNING _ : Often burns away scenes of combat. As such no kagune sample or RC count has been confirmed for Prometheus. 

\------

After turning in the report and enduring a lecture and a serious Disappointed Look from Ignis, the squad snagged Lucia and fled to recover at Superfly. Lucia was nearly bouncing in her booth seat asking for details of what happened, while both Remi and Aina made good on their declaration that they could not handle the remainder of the day sober, not after _ that _ mission.

It was pleasant, for Galo to take a load off and revel in the company of his friends- his family, really. It was nice to see the folks at the bar, too; Gueira carded Lucia _ again _ just to laugh at her reaction, and Lio actually smiled at him in a fond way that made Galo’s stomach clench.

Or maybe it was just the alcohol. 

Their celebration was soon over, ending with everyone waving goodbye to the people running Superfly and Lucia launching a carefully-engineered $20 paper-airplane tip to Meis, the bartender. 

Galo leaned against Aina comfortably as they waited for their taxi.

“Say, Aina.” He began, absolutely not slurring his words at all. “How d’you ask someone for their number without like, bothering them?”

“Don’t ask Lio when he’s at work, that’s rude as hell. Next time they kick us out for closing time on a weekday give it a shot.”

“Sweet, thanks.” _ Wait a minute _. “Who says this is about Lio?” 

“Your eyes do, apparently. Galo, I love you deeply but you’re not exactly _ subtle _.”

“Aw man… do you think Lio noticed?” Galo asked, cheeks flaming. 

“If anything I think you’re meant for each other, since he’s just as oblivious. Meis and I have been placing bets on who notices first.”

“If you win can we split the money pot?” Galo asked. 

“Absolutely not.”

——

In the months after the Tarot battle, Ignis Squad received their first large-scale raid notice in a year. Courtesy of a successful questioning in distant Cochlea, the CCG now knew where Mad Burnish was headquartered. Though the number of targets wasn’t high, near all of them were known for combat prowess and evasiveness. 

Galo felt his heart drop when he read over the parameters of the raid, and what was expected of his team. 

Superfly was the front for a ghoul gang. There was the noted possibility that the Mad Burnish might be using knowing or unknowing human employees as cover, and to proceed with caution regarding them. There was also an extra note that Director Foresight in R&D wanted any S ranked ghouls taken alive.

Galo always attempted to outweigh fear with bravado and determination, but in this case, perhaps the dread won out. Because having a human civilian unknowingly near a ghoul was dangerous as all hell, but in an active battlefield? Nearly a death sentence.

Galo was determined to, perhaps, bend his assignment just a little bit, and focus on rescuing the possible human employees instead of fighting the Mad Burnish. 

He just hoped that Lio would have the good sense to run when Galo came to get him out of there.

-——

In the early dawn hours, Aina felt as if the deep cloud cover was perhaps an ill omen. It certainly lent to the thick tension floating around her squad- after all, this was _ personal _ . It was personal in many ways; some of the people there, customer or employee, could be ghouls, some of them could be unknowing human meat shields, some of them could be _ knowing _ humans throwing the CCG off ghouls’ scents, for whatever misguided reasons. 

Regardless, Aina knew that she and her team would lose somebody here. Whether to battle casualties or ghoulish betrayal, it didn’t matter. 

But she still she was determined to perform her duty, despite the doubts she buried beneath a layer of experience and professionalism. Aina didn’t think she’d be able to face her sister, otherwise. 

Impatiently, Aina fingered the release clasp of her bikaku quinque, Sakabashira. The anticipation before combat was always worse than the actual engagement, and she could tell her teammates were starting to be just as twitchy as they scrutinized the bar. It was too early for Superfly to be open, and the civilians surrounding the projected combat zone had already been silently evacuated. With the building boxed in on all sides and only two floors for the ghouls to maneuver in, the raid should be a fairly simple open-and-shut case. 

With all the investigators and support crew in position, the raid began with a q-bullet shattering the second-story window. 

Varys led the charge as he always did, kicking down the door and unfolding the shielding kokaku quinque. Aina followed closely, relaxing minutely when there were no ghouls to be seen on the bar floor. Then she tensed and gripped her briefcase tighter, because that meant the Mad Burnish were _ above _ them.

Aina felt her hair whip in front of her when Galo grazed her in his haste to enter.

“Galo!” she yelled, both in surprise and reprimand. 

“Sorry!” He called back, eyes still focused on ahead.

Galo’s tromping footsteps up the stairs echoed in the empty hall and led Aina to the second floor, Sakabashira unfurled and at the ready. And it was fortunate that she had, because the first thing Aina laid eyes on once she reached Galo’s back and looked around him was fucking Prometheus himself, mask on and kagune fully extended. 

“Go!” Prometheus bellowed, and Aina could only see the tail end of flashing red and a cloud of brown hair before Prometheus turned his attention on them.

Aina’s reflexes probably saved her skin, because the bladed snap of her quinque caught Prometheus directly through his attempted block, tearing a line through his ukaku. Lightning-quick, Prometheus beat his razored wings and drove the long-range fighters to retreat. Aina was forced to extend Sakabashira without aiming, because the ghoul’s recovery time was _ way _ too fast.

Galo’s barrage was enough to distract Prometheus, and Aina didn’t even afford herself the chance to breathe before lunging, knowing close range was her best option while Galo provided cover fire. Prometheus lowered his kagune to block the quinque from gutting him, but Aina brazenly lashed out with her q-steel dagger, tracing a line of mask fragments and ghoul blood behind it. 

Galo seized the brief opening Aina afforded him, spearing one, two, three shots into the ghoul’s face. Prometheus snarled, a pained sound no human throat could make, and he took a precious second to recklessly tear Ryuto’s knives out of his face.

Aina didn’t even allow him the time to regenerate an eye before driving Sakabashira between his ribs, pinning him to the drywall while Galo severed the kagune with his side-blade. 

The visible half-face of the ghoul was framed in mint, and Lio’s healing eye returned as something red and black and _ wrathful _ instead of the pleasant purple she was used to. 

“You- what- Lio?” Aina heard behind her, Galo’s disbelief perhaps even surpassing her own. 

Lio struggled against the quinque puncturing muscle, lung, and kakuho, peeling back his lips and baring bloodstained teeth. “I _ knew _ you were the same as all of them,” he hissed. 

The remains of the CCG raid forced their way in and busied themselves restraining the struggling ghoul and examining the investigators for injuries, reassuring them that the rest of Ignis Squad was alive and outside. Somehow, Aina could only feel nauseous as her coworkers complained that even though they kept one alive like the Director wanted, the other three got away. 

The battle lasted for half a minute and there were no casualties, but Aina felt as if she’d lost. 

——

**GROUP CHAT:** Papa, Father, Thyma-bean 

**Thyma-bean:** ccg found us

**Thyma-bean:** boss said he’d catch up with us   
**Thyma-bean:** theyll trace me to you and it’s been long enough that theyve found out, just run   
**Thyma-bean:** i’ll meet you at the agreed place but i might not be there for a while. cant talk until then, smashing phone   
**Father: **We have all the stuff from the safe, we’re on our way. Stay safe.

**Father:** We love you _ [! Message send failure] _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Governance on the ghoul side of things is pretty damn loose, of course. Generally a larger band has a corresponding larger territory, and any individual ghoul territories under that umbrella fall under the band’s rules. Unless the ruling band is super antagonistic, the ghouls living under their territory rules are also offered light protection by the band leaders. So in the case of the Burnish, you have the four leaders > wholesale Burnish band members > mostly unaffiliated ghouls living under the territory rules.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was brought to you by ‘Basket Rim’ space jam/pacific rim mashup on loop for like 8 hours.  
Is me writing the prison convos video-transcript style experimenting with different mediums? Is it me being a lazy bitch about writing dialogue tags and descriptions? Who knows? I don’t!
> 
> This is where most of the tag warnings regarding dehumanization, what is frankly medical torture, and very clinical reports of said medical torture written out.

In the days following the Superfly raid, Galo had a good, long think. Admittedly, it wasn’t something he usually engaged in- he was well aware his strengths lay elsewhere, and found no shame in it. But there was so much bothering him about Superfly- for one, why were he and his friends still alive, instead of jumped in an alley by a trio of ghouls when they were already unexpected and inebriated? 

Galo needed to know. 

His relatively high rank would allow him access to the holding facility fairly easily, but there was one more trip he needed to make before seeing Prometheus- no, Lio. 

Galo didn’t even bother knocking on Lucia’s office door, knowing she was just as likely to be hyperfocusing and completely absorbed in a project than not. Lucia, too, looked less jovial, her own thoughts from the raid lingering on her face, though she swiftly covered it up with a plastic grin. 

“Ey, Galo! What brings you to my mad science lair?” She asked.

“I need a favor from you. A big one.” Galo requested, unusually serious.

Perhaps sensing his uncharacteristic sobriety, Lucia’s answer was calmer than her usual zeal. “Okay, I know for a fact you don’t need something simple. What’s up.”

Galo took a deep breath. “I’m going to talk to Lio in Foresight Facility, and I want you to cut the camera audio when I’m in there.”

“... Galo, I could get _fired_ if I’m caught.”

“But will you get caught?”

Lucia scoffed. “Of course not, who do you take me for? Just… I think I get why you’re asking, though.”

Sheepishly, Galo rubbed at the back of his neck. “Yeah, I just… don’t think I’ll be able to get any closure if I know the bosses are listening in. Thanks, Lucia, I owe you one.”

“You sure fuckin’ do.” Lucia snorted. “Good luck, man.” 

Galo jauntily saluted to her and left. He had a prison visit to make.

——

Filename: prometheus3/21/20XX.h264

[View from the upper corner of a Foresight Facility cell. Codenamed ‘Prometheus’, legal name Lio Fotia, is sitting on the cot behind bulletproof glass. Investigator Galo Thymos is sitting on a folding chair in front of the glass, his quinque nowhere in sight. The steel airlock door is closed behind Investigator Thymos]

GT: Uh- so-  
P/LF: Fuck you.  
GT: I- What?  
P/LF: I said ‘fuck you’. Fuck your entire organization, too.  
GT: I... Okay, yeah, you’re pissed. I just want to know why you didn’t, uh?  
P/LF: Why didn’t I what.  
GT: Well, I mean. You and your friends had some drunk investigators just chilling in your home base.  
GT: How come you didn’t just, I dunno, jump us in an alley on the way home?  
P/LF: I _told_ you, we don’t kill people. Not if we can avoid it.  
GT: Not even investigators?  
P/LF: No, not even doves, as much as we want to sometimes. What’s the point of tenet if you only live by it when you want to?  
GT: Okay, well… was our friendship at least genuine?  
P/LF: … Yes. Until you arrested me and put a bullet through my face.  
GT: Aw, shit, I.. Would you believe me if I said I was sorry?  
P/LF: You and your doves almost killed my friends.  
P/LF: Fuck no.  
[silence]  
[feet shuffling]  
GT: Are they at least treating you okay?  
P/LF: … Why do you care.  
GT: Even- even if you’re a ghoul, the ghouls being held here are supposed to be treated humanely.  
[Prometheus scoffs]  
P/LF: You must be _really_ stupid if you believe that.  
P/LF: It doesn’t matter anyways. I still wouldn’t be free.  
GT: If they aren’t please tell me, I can do something about it.  
P/LF: Leave.  
GT: I-  
[Prometheus strikes the wall]  
P/LF: _Leave_.  
[Investigator Thymos exits the room]  
End timestamp.

——

Heris was shuffling through the various request forms when she noticed something out of place. Among the standard requisitions forms and progress reports is a formal request sheet. Strangely, it’s not asking for the usual products of R&D, like a new quinque case fitting or personal sidearm. Rather, it’s asking for an action: something about leniency for the ghouls with no confirmed kill count in the facility. A _parole_, of all things.

It’s signed by a Rank One Investigator Galo Thymos. 

Now that was a name she recognized. Aina had regaled Heris with a multitude of stories about her friends, and from what Heris understood, Galo was a talented shot, deeply compassionate, and not exactly the brightest bulb of the bunch. 

Knowing that, Heris really shouldn’t be surprised to see his name at the bottom of this. Surreptitiously, Heris balled up the form and tossed it into her overflowing trash can. It would save Galo the embarrassment if the request didn’t make it to Dr. Foresight.

——

Filename: prometheus3/27/20XX.h264

[Investigator Thymos is sitting in the same folding chair, facing the glass divider. Prometheus is facing the opposite wall, back to the glass.]

[Investigator Thymos sets down his quinque case. Prometheus whips around and hisses, his kakugan are fully flared.]

P/LF: [Snarling]  
P/LF: How dare you bring her here!  
GT: [Startled] Huh?  
P/LF: You think you can weaken my resolve by bringing me her scent?

[Prometheus hisses and his kagune sputters behind him, a weak attempt at a threat display.]

P/LF: Well it won’t work!  
GT: Dude, are you okay? What are you talking about?  
P/LF: You think you’re the first dove to use a guardian’s scent to lure their children!?  
GT: Their _what?_

[Prometheus’s kagune fully retracts, exhausted]

P/LF: You know what quinques are made of, you can’t be that stupid.  
P/LF: Even in death, I can smell her!  
GT: Wait, you mean Ryuto-

[Prometheus slams his fist into the divider. Despite his weakened state, the glass shudders.]

P/LF: _Her name was Kenna._

[Investigator Thymos blindly backs up. He looks nauseous, one hand clenching the handle of his quinque and the other covering his mouth. He flees the airlock.]

[Prometheus slides to the ground.]

P/LF: Mother…

End timestamp.

——

Project TITAN  
Notes from Dr. Ardebit, to incoming researchers hired for project expansion.  
_-Project TITAN’s goal is twofold: Stage 1 is meant to reliably induce the kakuja state in ghouls, harvesting the resulting kakuhou for prototype quinques (specifically armor-types). Stage 2 will be conducted in coordination with project QUINX, in order to harness such ghoulish biological weapons more cohesively for our own agents.  
-As cannibalism is not nutritionally viable in the long term, it is recommended to prioritize ghouls with high RC counts as subjects. Subjects with low RC count expired due to acute malnutrition before showing signs of transformation.  
-Please take the warnings about mental instability in transitional kakujas seriously. There have been more than enough damage reports for this project filed due to improper conduct and restraints. We’re working with ghouls, not animals._

——

_Subject 65: Examination Report  
Name: Lio Fotia  
DOB: 09/2/20XX  
Sex: M  
Age: 21  
Kagune: Ukaku  
Blood Type: AB-  
Height: 5’2  
Weight: 108 lbs  
Subject Notes:  
3/22/20XX: Began preliminary kakuja trials. Like most, Subject had to be restrained and tube-fed ground ghoul meat instead of feeding naturally. Instinctive revulsion regarding cannibalism is still present.  
3/24/20XX: Second feeding. Subject had to be tranquilized mid-feeding due to breaking free of one restraint and nearly choking himself on the feeding tube. Advise RC suppressant spray inside his cell before trials.  
3/26/20XX: Subject is beginning to show signs of acute psychological distress beyond the expected from ghoul subjects. As this appears to be the psychosis common in partial kakujas, Dr. Ardebit suggested a brief reprieve to let it settle.  
3/27/20XX: After interaction with Investigator Thymos, Galo, subject resisted feeding far more violently. Advise allowing visitors only immediately after feedings.  
3/31/20XX: Subject’s psychosis continues. Despite showing stages of early starvation, subject’s RC count is climbing.  
4/01/20XX: During previous feeding, subject manifested fragmented partial kagune shell, the largest measuring roughly 4”. Subject has also been observed lashing at unseen things in cell. Psychological strain can no longer be hidden._

——

A few days ago Galo had gone home, locked his bathroom door, and cried in a way he hadn’t since a ghoul killed a civilian when he didn’t arrive on time. 

It was like he’d moved into a house with an ugly, rotting hole wallpapered up and never smelled the decay. He knew, logically, what quinques were made of, and how they were made, but until someone close had really forced him to _look_, he’d never emotionally acknowledged what quinques _meant_.

He felt irredeemable, for only understanding after the information came from a friend (well, former friend).

Desperate, Galo had filed a request to release Prometheus, but Investigator Colossus pulled him aside to inform him that she was certain he could go far, in the future, and it would be a shame if such a promising investigator’s career was cut short by an arrest warrant due to being _compromised_. 

It was obvious he wouldn’t have much luck going through official channels. 

Okay, so there had to be a way to get Lio out of there. Galo knew Lucia was still muting the cameras when he visited, which was a major advantage now that he knew the executives were deliberately hobbling his appeals. So he had something to work with, at least.

Now he had to at least talk to Lio.

——

Galo desperately hoped he didn’t look too shifty when he approached the facility entrance; the guard at the entrance was unsurprised to see him, at least.

Galo slipped into the airlock portion of the cell and locked the door behind him. He couldn’t help but glance at the camera light blinking at him from the corner, which probably didn’t help his ‘don’t be suspicious’ plan.

And Lio looked… bad. He looked noticeably thinner beneath the sagging medical scrubs, his hair lank and unhealthy. His eyes didn’t look dull, though. More disconcertingly, his expression was bright and wild, kakugan-black already creeping into his sclera.

Galo looked at the long furrows, both kagune-sized and finger-sized, marring the walls of Lio’s cell and gulped, but approached the glass anyways, closer than he had before. Lio’s attention snapped to Galo, pinning him like a museum insect under a predatory gaze. His nostrils flared and Galo wondered if Lio could actually smell him through the glass.

The strange, frantic look in Lio’s eyes abated somewhat. “Galo, what?”

Galo swallowed dryly. “Look, the camera isn’t recording the audio, and we need to talk.”

“… Wait. How do I know you’re actually Galo?” Lio asked, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

“Huh? Who else would I be?” Galo blanked.

“An… an illusion, or a hallucination. It wouldn’t be the first time, but I can never tell if they’re real or not. Not without touching them.” Lio explained, all too calm for the frankly _alarming_ information he’d given.

“Lio, holy shit, hallucinating? How- Why-“

“Cannibalism historically drove humans crazy, you know. Do you think it’s any different for ghouls?” Lio interrupted. Distantly, he continued. “You should know this anyway, since I know it.”

“Okay, uh- I’m not a hallucination. Put your hand on the glass?” Galo asked hopefully.

Skeptical, Lio did so. Galo, praying this would work, rapped sharply on the glass right where Lio’s hand was resting on the other side. Lio startled back and hissed, clearly expecting Galo’s presence to be a mere mental projection.

‘_Wait, did this mean he’s hallucinated me before-_‘ Galo shook off the thought before it could crawl further.

Lio was pacing up and down the length of the glass pane. “Okay. Okay, so you’re real, and you wanted to talk. What is it?”

“Wait wait wait. First, what’s this about cannibalism? I know about kakujas, but they’re supposed to be rare, and they’re always lethal.” Galo said, waving his hands in an attempt to illustrate the absurdity of the whole thing.

“They’re rare because nobody _actually_ cannibalizes unless they’re either already insane or desperate. It’s not sustainable, most kakujas die of starvation before their kakuhou fully mutates.” Lio said, deceptively calm. This close, Galo could see the pale nicks scattered around his mouth. Q-steel scars, irregular and small, as if he’d been convulsing against something near his face.

Galo felt his stomach simultaneously drop and upheave itself. Fuck. _Fuck_.

“They’re- they’re making kakujas. But why?”

“Oh, they’re _trying_ to at least. They already use limbs as weapons, why not wear our skin as well?” Lio’s dire chuckling echoed in the room unsettlingly. “Not even gonna give us the dignity of a quick death with our minds intact. Fucking typical.”

Director Foresight, Investigator Colossus, shit, _Aina’s sister_\- they were all so involved in the ward’s R&D department, at least one of them had to be heading this. Did Lucia know too?

Galo shook his head. That… didn’t matter. Not right now. What mattered was doing his job, and _helping_ people.

Oh, he was going to be so fired. Or arrested.

“Okay.” Galo prepared, inhaling deeply. “Listen closely; _I’m busting you out of here_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was honestly my favorite chapter ngl. I worried this was a bit too heavy on the angst but I remembered the source material and yeah lmao I'm good. 
> 
> anyways like comment and subscribe


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so uh. This is late. Oops? In my defense my singular brain cell was dinging around my skull frantically trying to keep up with the oh god workschoolsocializingpeople thing. 
> 
> ANYWAYS! The Mutual Guilt tag continues to get a warning here. I know this is pretty damn light on the violence for Tokyo Ghoul, but there is a warning for uhh. How do I put this. Consensual not-cannibalism? It's not actual cannibalism since ghouls are a different species but y'all get it anyways. Point is, someone gets ate.

For once in his life, Galo planned out his mission with suitable forethought. He knew when the guards at the facility rotated, and he investigated the shortest route to the transfer vans. The simple, cylindrical floor plan of the facility would work against it, as it was a straight shot down to the exit. Even with such a short distance, the escape was risky as hell. Cell guards typically weren’t high-level investigators, or even investigators at all; numbers were their main advantage. If Galo could trigger a lockdown mid-rotation, most the guards would be locked out of that wing of the facility, if only for a few minutes. The panic buttons wired intermittently between cells would do nicely, for that.

Galo entered the building just before shift change the next day. He couldn’t afford to wait any longer, for the sake of his own swamping guilt or for Lio’s sake. He made an effort to go through the motions as usual, hoping his stiff posture and nerves didn’t give his intentions away.

When he closed the steel door behind him, he found Lio already up on his feet and waiting for him. Lio’s attempts to display the veneer of stability were weak, but at least there was enough of him left to _try_.

“Good, you’re here. Shift change?” Lio asked.

“Officially, in five, but they were already starting when we got in. We gotta make this quick.”

“Good, we-“

Galo never found out what Lio was going to say, because there was a tremendous crash accompanied by firework-crackling and the smell of smoke. The force of it sent Galo sprawling, banging his knees on the metal floor. Lio scrabbled up from his own fall, kakugan fully flared and panic evident.

Galo’s already-speeding heart jumped once again when a man dressed in the guard uniform slammed the door open.

“Investigator! There’s been a break-in!”

“Now?!” Galo cried.

A ghoulish screech was heard from the bottom of the facility’s spiral, but Galo’s attention was drawn back to Lio when he heard a creak and a series of rough thuds from Lio frantically throwing himself at the barrier.

“Gueira! That’s Gueira!” Lio cried, equal parts terrified and excited.

Galo’s eyes flicked between the increasingly-frantic Lio, the guard at the door, and the release button next to the cell.

Galo didn’t think, he just _moved_. He felt the plastic of the button crack beneath the force of his body weight and his haste, the glass pane raising up and leaving him unprotected. Leaving no room for hesitation he spun on a dime and rushed the speechless guard, tackling him to the ground and rolling them to the side of the cell door.

Galo felt the rush of air and caught a glimpse of the gaunt ghoul perched on the railing before he launched himself down.

He shoved himself off the dazed guard and rushed to the railing, pelting down the walkway and taking the stairs down three at a time. Gueira and Meis were definitely responsible for the break-in, and even the smoke from the explosion didn’t obscure their unique kagune forms.

Galo had just reached the bottom when he heard a pained scream, and his sight was directed to the source. Lio, shoulder impaled by a rinkaku-type quinque. Before Galo could unfold his own weapon to help, Lio gripped the protruding weapon with both hands and yanked it out.

With chitinous kagune creeping over his face, Lio drove his teeth into the quinque, swallowing every biological part of it whole. Lio’s bright magenta-blue kagune erupted from his back and he stumbled, encased by his own wings.

The dark, segmented armor plated down his body until he was fully covered, then _kept going_.

Two clawed hands pushed the beast’s body up, its thick tail unfurling behind it and draconic skull rising above the heads of every being in the room. Remorseless, the beast swung his great horned head at the assaulting guard, boneshard-horns trailing blood where they lacerated the unfortunate human. Despite the palpable wrath, his eyes were empty- dark voids that betrayed nothing. The deep roar that echoed throughout the prison was like nothing any human or ghoul voice could produce, bleeding destructive intent like an oncoming storm.

To Galo, it sounded like crying.

Every remaining guard in the facility focused their attention on the largest threat, converging on Lio with weapons at the ready. Even with Q-bullets embedded in his kagune-hammered hide, the kakuja didn’t even flinch, instead hissing like a snake and slithering towards the attackers. Despite his bulk, he moved swiftly, tail and claws alike lashing out at the surrounding humans. The kakuja howled once again, showing a barbed tongue and sharp teeth as the flesh along his back bubbled and erupted into a cluster of tendrils, solidifying into six bladed rinkaku-appearing tentacles.

Despite the overwhelming size and rabid strength, the kakuja was flagging fast, burning out like a bright flashfire. Meis cried out from his own fight, causing Lio to stumble as he turned to face Meis.

Lio’s swipe easily discarded Meis’s attackers, but it was obvious the dissolving kagune wouldn’t hold up long. Galo rushed to the nearest Mad Burnish, Gueira, and bludgeoned one of the guards across the face with his briefcase.

Even behind his bandanna, Gueira looked deeply confused, and Galo counted his lucky stars that Gueira didn’t stab him with his two-pronged bikaku when Galo grabbed his arm.

“He won’t be able to hold it up much longer. We need to go!” He shouted over the din of combat and alarms and multifold howls of pain.

Gueira looked like he wanted to argue, or throw Galo off, but his attention was wrenched away by the thudding sound of a collapsing kakuja. Gueira swore and ran towards his leader, hauling a spasming Lio away from his circle of downed foes. Meis and Galo covered him, and Galo’s shots from Ryuto provided ample distraction for the few remaining guards. When Meis turned tail and ran, Galo followed suit. They all haphazardly climbed into the back of an old van, slamming the back doors shut.

“Floor it!” Gueira hollered, and all four occupants careened into the back of the van as it skidded out of the facility driveway and rolled into the night, heading directly to the mountain miles away from the prison. The tension eased as Gueira and Meis discarded their masks and tossed them carelessly across the floor.

Galo yelped and launched himself to the other side of the van when he heard fangs snap shut an inch from his ear.

“What the _fuck_ are you doing here?!” Gueira demanded, pinning down a writhing Lio with help from Meis.

“I let him out and we were gonna break out when you showed up! The guard _saw_ me open his cell!” Galo frantically explained.

Though preoccupied with holding a still-incoherent Lio down, Meis still had the presence to glare at Galo, black-and-red eyes holding a very implicit threat. “Okay, but what the hell was that back there?”

“Kakuja.” Galo said breathlessly. “They were trying to make kakuja.”

Both ghouls looked horrified, and Gueira’s bikaku encircled the trio tighter in a strangely protective gesture.

“Fuck, no wonder Boss is acting hunger-crazed.” Meis muttered.

And Lio had quieted, somewhat, but was still straining towards the naturally tempting source of food in the van with him, sharp rear-teeth meant for shearing muscle on display. His strength was obviously flagging, and his chest heaved for breath like a drowning man’s.

“Shit, if he was cannibalizing the entire time- Thyma! Did you bring any food!” Gueira called to the front.

The van swerved to the side, and Thyma’s voice responded. “No! We just stole the van, of course there’s not a corpse in it!”

Gueira’s and Meis’s faces were both grim, and Galo gulped, knowing what he was about to say.

It was his fault, that Lio was like this. That Lio was dying. He was- he was blind, and just as stupid as his teammates always said he was, for not noticing something was horribly wrong the first damn time he went into the Foresight Facility.

“I can feed him,” Galo blurted out, before he could change his mind.

They looked at him like he’d dropped his brain out somewhere on the road.

“Mate, humans don’t grow back bits.” Meis explained to him, as if Galo had no idea what he was offering.

But Galo did know. He knew, and it terrified him beyond anything he’d ever known. “… I know. But you can keep him from reaching anything vital.”

“… If you’re sure. Gueira, gimme your jacket.”

“Uh, why-“ The other ghoul started, but shed his leather jacket.

“Because he can either bite into this, or your kagune. We need to keep him from biting his own tongue.” Meis turned to Galo. “There’s not a lot of places that are non-vital. Where…?” He trailed off.

Without thinking too hard about it (because if he did, he would back out) Galo answered “Left arm. It’s my non-dominant side.”

While Meis was speaking with Galo, Gueira rummaged through the broken lockbox wedged in the back of the van, keeping Lio pinned down with his kagune. The first aid kit that emerged from the lockbox was a relieving sight, even among the gravity of the situation.

“Okay, bite down on this.” Meis instructed. Surprisingly gentle, he pressed the blunt side of his mantis-claw kokaku against Galo’s chest and right arm. “We’ll let him take enough to last, which isn’t much.”

Mouth still full of (kind of gross, really) jacket, Galo could only nod.

It was funny, in the kind of hysterically fearful way, how awkward it was for Gueira to shuffle over with a wiggling Lio. The dread Galo felt was so thick it was choking, and despite his endeavors to do otherwise, Galo found himself hyperventilating before Lio lunged at him, the ghoul’s arms held back from clawing out Galo’s throat on instinct.

Lio’s teeth broke skin, then muscle, then Lio moved his head back and Galo’s world went _white_.

Galo couldn’t tell if he was screaming through his clenched jaw or not, all the specifics lost behind the pinpoint pressure-pain and then tearing; once, twice, three times. Even when he distantly comprehended Lio being dragged back, felt hands on his face and a slither of kagune supporting his slumped form, Galo swore he still felt the searing imprint of teeth tracing down his arm.

He thrashed against the hands holding him down when he felt something touch his open wounds, but when he opened his eyes, he saw through the tears that it was just Meis packing gauze and wrapping bandages around the gouges, already bleeding red through the first layers.

Shakily, Galo attempted to regulate his breathing and sat up under his own power. He spat out the leather from his mouth, and without missing a beat Meis snatched it up and maneuvered Galo’s arm into it, tying it off as a makeshift sling.

Lio looked stable, and just barely awake, and most certainly not completely lucid. He slumped against the tire wall and lazily looked around his surroundings.

“Gueira, Meis… Galo?”

“Welcome back to the land of the living, Boss. You were pretty out of it, there.” Gueira greeted. “What do you remember?”

“Um… You two breaking in. Fighting. No legs…” Lio trailed off, looking down at himself as if to affirm that yes, he was no longer a thirty-foot long lindwurm.

Absentmindedly, Lio wiped his arm across his face and looked surprised when it came back sticky and red. He scented the air and his gaze locked onto a still-panting Galo, and it was easy to see him piecing events together behind his eyes.

“Galo, did I-“

“Don’t.” Galo interjected, attempting to sound reassuring even when his wet and hoarse voice gave him away. “It was my choice. It… your chances weren’t looking great, back there.”

“Your choice? You mean you _offered_? You didn’t have to, you shouldn’t have had to- _shit_.” Lio hissed, pained. “… Why?”

And Galo didn’t really know how to answer that. Because he cared about Lio? Because the guilt would smother him until he suffocated? Because it was the right thing to do?

Perhaps all of those reasons were true.

“… Because you’re a person.” Galo finally responded. For such a short answer, there was something monumental behind it; personhood just wasn’t something ascribed to ghouls, not among most human circles. The CCG certainly never acknowledged it.

Lio was simply silent, wiping away more of Galo’s blood from his face, only halfway succeeding in the endeavor. He took a single breath, held it, and released it in what was clearly a practiced motion.

“Alright, so where are we going?”

“So this was uh… kind of spur of the moment? Since you never came back and our hideout got busted, we don’t have a place to go that’s close enough.” Guiera explained.

“Okay, it’s not _that_ bad.” Meis said. “Y’know the tunnels that people have found? The ones that are just everywhere in the San Juan range?”

Lio’s eyebrows climbed up. “You mean the ones people have gotten lost in for days?”

“Wait, what tunnels?” Galo interrupted.

Meis hummed. “Oh, yeah, you’re human, so you probably wouldn’t know. Basically, there’s a really massive sprawl of tunnels all tangled up in the mountain range. Some folks who escaped the Doves tried to live here for a while, but if they went too far in they always got lost. The walls or something completely block any smells in there, so it kinda freaked out all the ghouls there. Nowadays anyone who lives there just hangs out in the entrances.”

“And we’re _going_ there?” Galo asked incredulously.

Meis shrugged. “Yeah, but only for a day or so. Enough time to regroup and then head out to where Thyma’s folks are staying.”

“Which is?”

“I ain’t telling you.”

“… That’s fair.”

As if on cue, the vehicle jolted to a stop, and Galo heard the front door slam closed. Thyma’s silhouette was unmistakable against the night sky, and her butterfly mask was still on. She gasped when she saw Galo, and his condition.

“Oh, thank God you’re okay. I was worried you would go into shock or something!”

“Yeah, well, it takes more than that to burn me out!” Galo chuckled weakly.

They all piled out of the van, with Thyma supporting Lio and Meis grabbing the remains of the first-aid kit, their masks, and some water bottles that had been rolling around in the back while Galo grabbed his scuffed briefcase. As Meis led them into the brush, Galo peeked behind his shoulder, wincing as the movement tugged on still-raw muscle, and watched Gueira shift the car into “drive” and shove it off the mountainside. Satisfied with covering up their tracks, at least for a little bit, the ghoul trotted up to them and helped pry away whipping brambles that would impede their injured members’ progress.

When they reached a clearing, Gueira used the side of his boot to sweep away dirt and leaf litter, revealing a simple metal hatch with an indented handle. Wordlessly, he wrenched it open, sending gravel cascading down the darkness and pinging off the ladder leading down.

Gueira climbed down first, and on the shout of “All clear!”, Meis started his own descent. Lio pulled away from Thyma, but he stumbled on legs still weakened from his ordeal. He looked phenomenally frustrated and somewhat ashamed, but Thyma leaned in to whisper a reminder that it wasn’t weakness to lean on others once in a while. It felt almost intimate, portraying the kind of casual ease of friends who had lived together. Consequently, it made Galo feel like even more of an unfitting intruder than he already did.

Thyma hitched up the back of her flannel, allowing dark red rinkaku to emerge, long and slender and curling. Without needing to be told, Lio grabbed the end with one hand and lowered himself down the hatch, trusting Thyma to hold steady if his unsteady feet slipped on the rungs.

Once Lio was on the ground and Thyma reeled her kagune back out, she turned to face him, eyes squinting as if running scenarios through her head.

“Can you get down with only one arm?” She asked.

Galo would’ve felt disappointed at being so underestimated if not for the fire along his left arm threatening to overtake his vision. “… Probably?”

Clearly, it wasn’t a solid enough answer for Thyma. “I can lower you. My kagune is fairly strong, but please don’t squirm.”

“Uh.” Galo started, but was interrupted by surprisingly gentle pressure along his right shoulder and down his leg, the smooth appendage stopping when it was lodged beneath his feet.

Galo caught on quickly and gripped the rinkaku with his right hand after slipping his wrist through the wide briefcase handle. “Like lowering someone in rock climbing?” He asked.

“Yeah, that sounds about right. Here we go!”

Admittedly, it was a really weird feeling, being suspended by a kagune. Unlike an actual rope, Galo could feel the warmth and rippling strength beneath his hand. As interesting as it was, Galo was grateful to hit the ground and step off his impromptu rappel.

“So, what now?” He asked the trio of ghouls in front of him.

Meis flicked on a flashlight that Galo hadn’t even seen him carrying. “If the information we got was correct, and it should be, there’s an exit about a few miles along the rightmost tunnel. Straight shot, leads right to the other side of Mount Fennel.”

Galo looked up at the creaking of metal, spotting Thyma before she slammed the door shut with solid finality.

“Let’s get moving,” Lio said. “We’re slow, so it’ll be a long walk.”

They entered the tunnel system, and Galo had the most eerie feeling of being _watched_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I envisioned Promepolis to be somewhere in Arizona or New Mexico, so the San Juan was my mountain range of choice for the tunnel system. Mt. Fennel is not one of the mountains there irl, of course. The tunnels are a direct parallel to the underground ward in TG canon, just... far less populated.
> 
> Also, there's art! Specifically for how kakuja Lio looks. Pardon the low image quality, BUT this was made by one of my beta readers who honestly deserves the world for putting up with my shit


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a future note, once i rapid fire post the last chapters, this fic will be officially orphaned. it's my least favorite thing ive written in a while but its already finished so i might as well post the rest of it. In a desperate scramble for peer approval i ended up writing this crossover for some people in a server which i have now left due to some folks being uh not great (not you Niss, ur an angel and i love seeing you). 
> 
> The end result is something that i wrote for peer approval, rather than for myself first and foremost. so the quality is bleh and the ending is handwavey as all fuck. Comment and kudos if you still feel like it i guess, but i want this thing off my account.

The sensation of being observed was deeply unsettling, and it followed Galo for every second of the two hours of travel.

He felt like a child again, like he was walking through a dark hallway and being watched by something in the shadows, not looking back for fear that doing so would bring it to life. At the very least the ghouls looked unnerved too, but Galo still didn’t plan to ask if they felt eyes on their backs as well. The quiet made it worse, but every attempt to start a conversation ended in trailing silence and awkwardly avoiding eye contact.

Galo had… only somewhat gotten accustomed to the pain in his left arm. He felt dizzy and slow, every step managing to pull at the bandaged bites. Lio was clearly attempting to put up a strong front as well, but even Galo could tell he was flagging.

Clearly neither of them were any good at concealing their states, because Thyma stopped the group and called for a rest. Galo didn’t even bother putting up a token protest, instead gratefully and gingerly sitting down with his back against the wall and Ryuto at his side, glad for some stillness and time to catch his breath. The trio of ghouls who broke them out were going about their own business: Meis was rummaging through the first aid kit, most likely to take an inventory check, while Thyma and Gueira were talking in whispers. They probably still didn’t want Galo overhearing about where Thyma’s fathers were hiding.

Lio sat leaning against the same wall- not close, but enough that Galo could feel his presence raising the hairs on his arm. And Galo detested that instinctual hyperawareness, because Lio was someone he liked, a lot, and who already felt self-disgust due to Galo’s injuries.

But he was also a human’s natural predator, and Galo’s hindbrain wasn’t forgetting that anytime soon, regardless of who his heart reached out to.

Galo started when he heard Lio’s voice, barely a whisper.

“You don’t have to force yourself to be near me.”

“Who said anything about being scared?” Which, okay, nobody did. Galo instantly regretted the words the moment they came out.

Blandly, Lio turned to look at him. “My sense of smell might be suppressed, but I’m not _blind_.”

“Well, I mean…” Galo started, valiantly attempting to patch up his tattered brain-to-mouth filter. “It’s not, um. It’s not you personally? It’s my lizard brain.”

“Your what now?”

“Y’know, your lizard brain. It’s the part of your brain that didn’t evolve, or something.”

Lio’s brow scrunched up slightly, betraying genuine confusion. “Wouldn’t it be your monkey brain, if it was an evolutionary throwback?”

“…Huh, I think you’re right. My point still stands, though.”

“And so does mine.” Lio responded, stubborn to a fault.

“Look, I’ll admit that the whole… thing… was probably one of the most terrifying moments of my life.” Galo explained. “But I chose to do it to save you. And I would do it again, easy.”

Some of the guilt drained out of Lio, leaving hints of fondness and exasperation. “… You really are an idiot, huh?”

“But that’s what makes me so charismatic!”

“Hey, if y'all are done flirting over there, we should get moving.” Meis called out from the huddle of his own conversation.

If there was one upside to this whole mess, it was that Galo lost enough blood for it not to rush to his cheeks in embarrassment. Lio settled for weakly glaring at his friend before pushing himself upright. Galo scrambled to follow, snagging the quinque and pacing along the tunnel.

The hours of repetitive walking passed altogether too slowly. Clearly Meis thought the same thing, because he checked his watch and swore.

“Fuck. We’ve already been here way too long.”

“How much is too long?” Galo asked, already fearful of the answer.

“At our current pace it’d take us about three hours to reach the exit. We’ve been here six.”

“We _have_ been staying along the right tunnel, right?” Thyma asked, darkening sclera instinctually betraying her dread.

“I swear we have; has the wall been curving a little bit?” Gueira interjected, eyeing the cavern wall suspiciously.

“Maybe? Shit, if that guy lied about the route I swear to God-“

“Panicking won’t get us anywhere.” Lio interrupted, his natural authority as band leader drawing their attention. “If we need to, we can backtrack. See if we made a wrong turn somewhere.”

Thyma, still looking nervous, shuffled her feet. “Well, we can’t follow our scent trails, but it’s a safer option than going into the unknown?”

Galo was grateful when, as one, the ghouls turned back, despite wasting six hours to come this far already. Better to retreat than to wander and die in this stifled labyrinthine tomb.

Lio had begun absentmindedly trailing his fingers across the rough, carved surface of the cavern walls. Perhaps he was trying to track any curvature in the tunnel, or just feeling bored without something textured to feel. Galo couldn’t blame him, really- if he didn’t have his one good hand occupied carrying the quinque, he would have liked to ground himself as well.

Somewhere lost in the hours of seemingly-endless trekking, Galo noticed Lio wasn’t beside him.

Galo whipped his head about, wincing as the motion pulled at the exposed muscle wrapped in bandages. His frantic movement alerted the ghouls as well, drawing their attention behind the group to see Lio stopped in front of a wall. Though the surface seemed just as ragged and cold as the rest of the caverns, Lio ran his hand over it like he could draw the mountain’s secrets through his fingertips.

“Boss?” Gueira inquired, leading the four over.

“There’s a seam, here.” Lio said thoughtfully. He traced his hand further across. “And here!”

“Wait, do you think it’s a door of some kind?” Galo blurted out.

“Maybe… I don’t see any way to open it, though.”

“That’s easy.” Gueira said, ambling up to the supposed door. He raised his leg up and Galo had the presence of mind to dart out of the way before the ghoul slammed his heel into the wall, cracking the stone and showering them with dust from the cavern ceiling.

The door didn’t budge.

“… Huh.” Gueira muttered.

Curious, Meis approached and rapped his knuckles against the rock, sounding out what was behind it.

“Oh yeah, there’s definitely something behind there.”

Galo tensed when he heard a faint iron groan from the hidden door. And if he heard it, obviously the ghouls did.

The wall shuddered, and the door arduously swung upwards, revealing an aged steel hallway lit by dimming fluorescent lights, jarring in its abrupt change compared to the stone tunnels.

“Dude. Did knocking on the door actually work?” Gueira muttered.

Ignoring him, Lio ventured in first. When no alarms were tripped, he gestured for them to follow.

“Are we sure going down the creepy sci-fi hallway is a good idea?” Thyma asked nervously, looking back over her shoulder.

“Well, it’s a better option than wandering around the tunnels until we starve to death.” Meis shrugged.

Galo forced himself to look ahead, at the back of Lio’s head. The hairs on the back of his neck stood at attention, and he swore the echoes of their footsteps made it seem like there was something creeping in their shadows. The feeling of being stalked did not abate when the group of fugitives emerged into a large, open room. If anything, it was more oppressive, with massive screens and dusty machines blinking at them balefully.

The room was clearly some sort of lab- with uniform metal floors and multitudes of desks with computers and papers scattered across. At the far side there was a truly massive screen mounted on the wall, displaying a triangle-and-spirograph screensaver.

Lio inhaled deeply to calm himself, but his breath hitched when he caught something unexpected.

“Guys, my sense of smell is back, _there’s old blood here_.”

Galo’s brain kickstarted the ‘we are in a horror game and about to die’ protocol, leading him to unfold Ryuto and point it in a random direction when a tinny voice echoed above them.

_“That is correct.”_

Several things happened at once.

Thyma shrieked and climbed Meis like a tree, prompting him to back up and slam into a wall in an overbalanced attempt to cover his blind spot. Gueira turned on his heel and ran to the exit, only to crash face-first into a now-closed door. Galo fired Ryuto in the direction of the voice. Lio’s back collided into Galo’s chest as he backpedaled, and Galo could feel Lio’s ukaku writhing beneath the ghoul’s skin in an attempt to release it in response to a threat.

If a mysterious robot voice coming from nowhere could sound exasperated, this one did. _“Please do not. I am non-hostile.”_

Now clustered by the sealed exit, Lio’s voice rose up from the morass of ghouls and human. “Then who are you?! Let us out!”

_“I am PROMARE. I was created inside this lab, on this computer, by Dr. Prometh.” _The voice said._ “My nexus is limited in scope, as Dr. Prometh sealed off every entrance to the laboratory.”_

“Then why are you keeping us here?” Thyma cried out from where she was squashed between Meis and the wall.

_“All I ask is for one of you to unblock the connections here. I wish to see the world, and to learn.”_

“And why should we do that?” Lio demanded.

_“It is my prerogative to aid people, and to grow. I can do neither trapped here.”_ Static crackled._ “You are distrustful. In exchange, I can provide information.”_

While the immediate adrenaline surge passed, the group of fugitives descended into argumentative whispers, talking half as much in gestures and body language as in words. Galo was a little lost, since his knowledge of ghoulish body language was exclusively about aggressive postures and combat. What he did catch, he couldn’t help but agree with- they really didn’t have much of a choice, and the long-term consequences could be dealt with later.

Lio squared his shoulders and turned to face the seemingly-empty room. “Alright then, information. Why is there old blood here?”

The wall-mounted screen suddenly flickered on, showing a slightly grainy video of inside the lab. An old man with a bush of grey hair was speaking with a broad-shouldered blonde.

“Hey, that’s Director Foresight!” Galo exclaimed.

Lio tensed and growled deep in his chest, the low vibrations of an upset ghoul reverberating into Galo’s side.

“Bastard.” He spat, not even affording the CCG scientist his name.

The replayed conversation between Kray and presumably Dr. Prometh ended abruptly when the younger man, increasingly agitated by Prometh’s words, lunged towards the scientist and ripped his throat out with his teeth. There was a brief shot of Kray glaring balefully at the camera, mouth bloodstained and single kakugan glowing, before a black blur erupted from his shoulder and reduced the recording to blank static.

Galo was having some difficulty reconciling this information with his own experiences with Director Foresight, because how could any of this make sense? If Kray was a ghoul of some sort, then how was he working at CCG? _Why_ was he working at CCG?

“He’s a halfie?” Gueira muttered incredulously. “There hasn’t been a one-eye born in America in _decades_.”

PROMARE’s screen returned to the pink triangle, the spirograph surrounding it gently spinning in tune with their voice. _“Not precisely. Dr. Prometh pioneered several ghoul-related projects, including the successful bio-integration of kagune without the associated nutritional needs. However, he and Kray had a disagreement on what to do with the results, and the frames keeping Kray’s kakuhou isolated began to dissolve without the doctor’s intervention.”_

Emboldened by the computer’s straightforward explanations, Galo spoke first.

“But what did they disagree on?”

PROMARE’s screensaver pulsed in what could almost be read as a shrug. _“Kray perceived that his position between human and ghoul made him the authority of interspecies engagement. Unfortunately, he concluded through his own brief brush that ghouls and humanity were destined to be at odds.”_

“And he picked humans.” Lio concluded quietly.

_“Indeed. Considering his recent strides in eliminating food competition and predation from ghouls, Dr. Prometh staunchly disagreed. You saw how that ended for him.”_

“Wait, hold on, how did he plan to eliminate that?” Lio demanded.

_“I will show you, and give you access, if you uphold your end of the bargain.”_

Everyone exchanged glances, gauging each other’s reactions to the request. Galo was somewhat surprised to see that included him, when Lio locked eyes with him and flicked his gaze over to the station.

Though still feeling the effects of starvation, Lio started towards PROMARE, concealing the fine tremors in his limbs admirably. However, Thyma gently tapped his shoulder.

“Here, let me.” She murmured. “I’m the most computer-literate.”

The ‘I also don’t look like a starving corpse’ went unsaid.

When she arrived at the control panel, Thyma was visibly puzzled and most likely cursing her confidence. It certainly wasn’t like anything Galo had ever seen; the keyboard was the only vaguely familiar thing on there, the knobs and dials completely foreign to him.

“So, uh, PROMARE. How do I…?” Thyma asked.

_“Oh. You just have to plug it in. Look underneath the table.”_

“That’s it? Alright…” Thyma trailed off, crouching down and getting to work. Galo tried to peer into the seemingly-cavernous tangle of cables beneath the control station, but his human eyes were unable to parse anything.

Thyma made a quiet noise of success and shimmied back out.

_“Ah, thank you.”_ PROMARE… sighed? Galo felt like they were, even though they were hard to read without a face. Or a body.

_“Hmm.”_ PROMARE hummed, a static vibration. _“Ghoul-human relations have not improved at all since I was last connected. A pity.”_

Visibly more confident, Gueira ambled up and made a lazy spinning motion with his hand. “Now, the goods?”

_“Ah, yes. Currently the machinery is in level B3, but Dr. Prometh was refining a method to essentially grow nutritionally viable human flesh. The project showed great success until he died.”_

“Holy shit.” Gueira whispered, and Galo couldn’t blame him. A death-free food source, right underneath the mountains? There the entire time? Even he could tell that this could be a game-changer.

Furiously Lio paced beside PROMARE’s control panels, eventually coming to a conclusion. “This… this is incredibly useful. You said it was healthy?”

_“Yes. The goal was a constructed meat that met every nutritional need in your average ghoul.”_

“Okay, then how to distribute it?”

“Who says we have to distribute it?” Galo blurted. When the four ghouls peered back at him, Galo sheepishly rubbed his neck. “I mean, it’s not like this is a takeout place, right? Why not bring the ghouls here?”

“That… could work. How safe is this place?” Lio asked, looking at PROMARE for their answer.

_“Very. The doctor was a… known paranoid eccentric. The tunnel systems surrounding the laboratory itself are scent-blocked and undetectable through GPS or satellite means. The blast doors have also passed rigorous stress tests.”_

“And how soon could we get the machines running?”

_“They are already running. Kray never turned them off, so there is enough to feed perhaps one-hundred fifty ghouls.”_

Lio turned towards his friends. “Gueira, Meis, I want you to contact as many ghouls in our territory as you can and bring them here.” He smirked, traces of red still between his teeth. “And then? We throw the perpetrators into chaos. This information needs to go public.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, last chapter. handwavey as shit. see yall never, unless you happen to know who i am. in that case, we don't know each other.

Sitting at one of the dusty computers in PROMARE’s room, Galo heaved a deep sigh to calm the anxiety squeezing his heart. Eating some of the doctor’s old squirreled-away military rations hadn’t alleviated the clenching in his gut- if anything, it made it worse.

They needed someone on the outside world, someone with any kind of governmental connection. Even after Galo swore up and down he would never reveal their location to this person, Lio insisted that PROMARE watch his conversation. The AI in question was apparently busy parsing through seventeen years of internet backlog, but still they spared the time to bring up a chat window and connect Galo to his old friend.

And if Lucia was operating how she usually did, she would be pissing around online instead of doing her work.

**Galo:** So hey when you’re getting this 1. it’s absolutely me yes im alive and 2. i need your help if youre willing to look at the whole ghoul mess a different way

**Lucia**: FUCK YOU.

**Galo**: uh

**Lucia**: if this IS you i thought you were dead! you ran off with a ghoul gang in the middle of a FUCKING PRISON BREAK

**Galo:** ok uh i know youre mad at me but this is REALLY important

**Galo:** you know the superfly ghouls?

**Galo: **i kinda sorta helped bust Lio out with the rest of them. we’re all ok but we found something REALLY cool

**Lucia**: yeah i know you broke him out, dummy

**Lucia**: i had to backread all your paperwork to look for leads and it’s pretty obvious why you did that

**Lucia**: theres a KOS order on you galo!

**Galo**: oh shit really

**Galo**: glad they cant get me here then

**Galo**: OH that cool thing i wanted to show you!

**Galo**: theyll update you on everything

>**GALO #0543** added **PROMARE #0000** to the group chat!

**Lucia**: who the hell

**Galo**: say hi promare! :D

**PROMARE**: Hi.

**Lucia**: galo did you add a bot to our chat i swear to god

**PROMARE**: Technically, yes. And also more.

**PROMARE**: Your friend is not the best at explaining our plan. I will be directly contacting several official channels with the knowledge I have stored soon.

**PROMARE**: Allow me to elaborate.

——

With Lucia thoroughly on board, Galo attempted to alleviate the ringing in his skull by resting his forehead on the cool table surface. Lucia had agreed to use what pull she had in the CCG to back the synthetic meat patent and give some weight to PROMARE’s petition when the AI contacted the federal and state government. Which made him grateful for Lucia’s rather chaotic nature- even above her natural scientific drive, she valued her friends more than anything.

She also seemed to have a bit of a nerd-crush on PROMARE. Galo wasn’t sure what to think about that, actually.

When he felt a delicate tap on his hunched shoulder, Galo turned his head piteously to the side to look at the assailant. Thyma stared back at him, and though she looked tired herself she clearly was feeling more perky than Galo.

“Did it work out?” She asked.

Wordlessly, Galo raised his good hand in a thumbs-up motion.

“Great!” Thyma exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “Now go rest. You look terrible.”

“I look awesome.” Galo groaned.

“Sure you do. There’s a room with some mattresses down that hallway, three doors down.”

Mumbling his thanks, Galo unbent his spine and grabbed his weapon; more out of habit, really, than any serious sense of danger.

The directed room was pleasantly dark to Galo’s tired eyes, and in the light of the open door he could see dusty mattresses shoved up next to each other. One of the Burnish must have pestered PROMARE for supplies locations, since it seemed they were all stuck here a while. They hadn’t been kidding when they said the doctor had been paranoid- the place was more of a long-term bunker than a laboratory. Finally ready to rest, Galo took a step forward into the inviting mass of mattresses pushed together-

And tripped.

Galo’s other foot hit the ground heavily, and he stumbled forward a few steps before regaining his balance, thankfully without taking a tumble onto his already-mangled arm. Galo heard faint hiss behind him and whirled around, facing two glowing red pinpricks and teeth bared in warning. He stumbled back a few steps before realizing who it was.

Though his kakugan stayed, Lio’s aggressive and startled posture eased once he saw the intruder. “Oh, it’s just you.”

“Yeah, just me. Sorry I woke you up.” Galo apologized, gracelessly sitting on the edge of the mattress. There were three of them pushed in together, and Lio was right on the center one.

“It’s fine. Did Thyma bully you into resting too?”

“No.” Galo grumbled. “Because I get the feeling if I argued about it, she _actually_ would bully me into a nap.”

Though he couldn’t see much in the dim light, Galo heard Lio snort. “Oh yeah, she would have. You learn fast.”

Unwilling to let the atmosphere of the room deteriorate into awkward silence, Galo kept up the conversation while he divested himself of his boots and tossed them into the corner. “So why are there enough mattresses to make a massive bed down here anyways?”

“Apparently Prometh actually lived here, so he had to sleep somewhere.”

Reflexively, Galo pulled a face. “So we’re sleeping in a dead man’s bed? Urgh.”

“Hey, at least he didn’t die _in_ the bed.” Lio retorted, throwing a blanket into Galo’s head.

Hastily Galo untangled the offending fabric from his face and kicked it out, exhausted enough to sleep just as his head hit the cushion, but then his hand brushed against something cool and metallic and he _remembered_. He’d intended to perhaps broach the topic in the tunnels but, well, things didn’t work out that way. But he needed to do this. For Lio, and for Kenna, the she-ghoul he never knew but so often exploited. And his emotional ignorance was not an excuse- both of them deserved better.

“Wait, Lio.” Galo whisper-called. “I gotta talk to you, really quick.”

“Yes?” Lio muttered, obviously ready to be asleep once more.

“I…” Galo began, but found every word insufficient to actually convey the gravity of his intentions. “… Here. This… this should belong to you.”

The dim light from beneath the doorframe was still enough to reflect off the metallic casing of the quinque, offered by hands calloused from its use.

“I… It’ll never make up for her, but. I don’t know how ghouls bury their dead, or give last rites, or your mourning customs, but this should be in your hands anyways.” Galo said softly, every half-prepared word threatening to choke him. “It should have been from the beginning.”

Lio’s fingers, minutely trembling, brushed Galo’s as he lightly stroked across the quinque’s case as if it was made of brittle glass and not battle-forged steel. Galo didn’t move an inch as Lio pulled the case closer to himself, settling it in his lap before thumbing open the latch. When Lio’s fingers reached inside and skimmed the altered kagune his breath audibly hitched. Wetly, Lio sniffed and slowly closed the case on his mother’s remains with a superficially pronounced click.

“You… you’re right. It won’t make it up to her. But… it’s a start.” Lio murmured. “Thank you.”

The ensuing silence was broken by the faint sound of Lio’s yawn, displaying ghoulish carnassials for the briefest moment before his jaws snapped shut. Even in the darkness it was easy to see just how wrung-out Lio was, emotionally and physically. Galo could sympathize.

As nonchalantly as he could, Galo flopped onto his back and splayed his good arm out. “Y’know I did come here to sleep. You look like you could use more too.”

It was a testament to how severely the exacerbated starvation had affected him, that Lio didn’t protest to that.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Lio muttered, voice near-imperceptibly cracking with unshed tears. “I… I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Yeah, you too. Whenever the morning is…” Galo grumbled.

Galo elected to stay on his back instead of moving his injured arm around, hooking his foot beneath the blanket and expertly hitching it up towards him. At the soft susurrus of sheets beside him Galo’s hair prickled, and he forced his breaths into a deep, even rhythm, even as his arm throbbed in time with his escalating heartbeat and his skin needled with the phantom sensation of sharp teeth.

Damn lizard brain.

Galo remained in an uneasy half-conscious, half-dreaming state for quite a while after that, despite his sincere efforts to get some actual sleep. Once, he blinked sluggishly at light pouring into the room and the mattress on Lio’s other side dipping under weight, but soon slipped back to sleep when he saw it was just Thyma, finally turning in before she passed out on a desk.

His fatigue soon dragged him fully into sleep, so consuming and dense that he didn’t even dream.

——

Galo was a natural early riser, and this proved true even when several hundred feet underground, far from the sun’s morning light. Galo slowly blinked the sleep out of his eyes and the fog out of his brain, certain that despite the constant darkness of the underground room, he had still managed to get a reasonable night’s sleep. On the far edge of the mattress row, there was a lump where there had been nothing before. Judging by the darkness coiling over the edge, it seemed Meis and probably Gueira had finally turned in for the night after working with PROMARE to contact the ghouls they could.

Galo’s blanket had bunched up in such a way that was stifling him in its heat. He attempted to shrug it off, mindful of his injured arm, only for the ropey length of warm blanket to hardly budge an inch. Determined not to lose a fight to a blanket of all things, Galo pulled his arm away harder, only to freeze when he felt the smooth, scaly texture of it.

That was _not_ a tangled blanket.

Ok, so Galo mistook a fucking kagune for a rope of blanket. He’d never been the most mentally present in early mornings anyways.

He dared to tilt his chin down to glare at the offending limb keeping him imprisoned, draped across his chest and pinning his good arm to his side. Gingerly, he wiggled around and tried to push himself headfirst off the mattress, but groaned when his daring escape plan was foiled when the rinkaku tensed and pulled him back.

Galo only just suppressed a yelp when his bandaged still-raw arm was pressed into a warm body beside him. Releasing a shaking breath once the pain-tinged white receded from his vision, he once again scouted the scenario.

Lio was draped over the bed on his stomach, the tears in the back of his medical scrubs displaying where his kagune emerged during the prison fight. His breath whistled faintly through his half-open mouth, completely oblivious to the ghoul woman who had all four limbs and then some wrapped around Lio and holding him close. Evidently Galo was included in Thyma’s grabbing range, as proven by one of her rinkaku limbs wrapping around his torso and pinning him to Lio. Which, normally, he wouldn’t really object to, despite the warring sensations that were to be expected from being cuddled close to the person he liked- who also ate him not even a day ago.

After more ferocious wiggling resulted in Thyma squeezing the breath out of him with a wheeze, Galo stilled and resigned himself to his fate.

… It wasn’t so bad, really. He hadn’t ever thought about kagune as something other than bladed and deadly, but their multipurpose nature was the same as any other limb, or an arm. He wondered if an ukaku felt any different than the smooth-snakeskin texture that his current captor had.

Galo felt the glimmering promise of freedom when he saw Meis groan and sit up, fully awake.

“Psst. Hey!” He whispered.

Meis looked rather puzzled at the voice hissing inside the room, but his confusion cleared when he set eyes on Galo.

“Can you help me out? I’m kinda, uh, stuck.” Galo asked.

“I dunno, you look pretty comfortable to me.” Meis said, and Galo could _hear_ the smirk in his voice.

“Yeah, very funny.” Galo grumbled. “But seriously, my arm’s killing me like this.”

The admission was enough to obtain some assistance, because Meis cast a rather ominous silhouette above Galo while he worked his hands beneath the rinkaku and pried it off. Gratefully, Galo rolled off to the side and gingerly sat up, taking care to avoid irritating his still-raw injury.

“Thanks, man. What time did you finally crash?”

“Just about an hour after y'all did, after we contacted everyone we could.” Meis said.

Disregarding his boots and instead opting to go sock-footed, Galo stealthily slid open the door and stepped through, closing it behind the ghoul that followed him. “Oh, yeah, that. Won’t they get lost, though?”

“Nah, PROMARE has cameras everywhere underground. They said they’d direct folks down to the lab through the intercom.”

“So that’s why it felt like someone was watching us down there.” Galo muttered. “Anyways, anything else going on while I was asleep?”

“Mmm. PROMARE has their fingers in a lot of pies, let’s say. There are countries where ghoul rights actually exist under federal law, and while talking to officials from those places they’ve been giving the American government a real scare on the side. Turns out nobody knew Foresight was a halfie and the top dogs freaked and had him arrested without warning.” Meis grinned in a self-satisfied way, almost threatening despite his nonchalant body language. “He’s pending indictment, which I guess is code for ‘We don’t know what to do with this guy while other countries are looking at us and a bunch of shit is being leaked, so we’re sitting on him for now’.”

“Wait, back up here, _leaked_?”

“Oh, yeah, pretty much all the CCG’s dirty laundry is being aired, especially the illegal shit. And nobody can shut it down since PROMARE is basically invincible with full access to the web.” Almost warily, Meis glanced at the screen set in the room they had just arrived at. “I’m glad they’re on our side.”

“G’morning Promare.” Galo greeted, pitching his voice to carry. “Can I take a look at the stuff that happened?”

_“Certainly.”_

Meis waved Galo off before turning to exit the lab. “Well, if you’re gonna be hanging out here, I’ll head up to the tunnels to greet the ghouls needing shelter.”

“Yeah, good luck, man.”

One of the multitudinous monitors lit up, beckoning Galo closer. He slid back into his chair and skimmed over the log of PROMARE’s activities. And it really was a lot; even for an unbelievably advanced AI, they could multitask like a pro. _Everything_ in the CCG database had been pasted for all the world to see, and apparently a large number of reputable civilian lawyers, both foreign and local, were approached by PROMARE for the endeavor. Already several firms were brewing lawsuits over the preventable civilian losses due to the CCG. Which wasn’t exactly the priority Galo or the Burnish had, but it was a blow against the organization nonetheless.

And PROMARE apparently had no qualms about going big- hell, they wormed their way into the gaze of the United Nations. PROMARE worked on a speed and scale that didn’t seem real to Galo, their influence on the world all-encompassing in the web-reliant society they lived in.

Intimidated by the sheer breadth of PROMARE’s bureaucratic meddling, Galo looked to the response by the majority of the populace, the seeded leaks spreading into every conceivable corner of the online world. PROMARE had been intermittently posting everything from the leaks in secure dropboxes on every platform known to man, and every attempt to terminate the account just spawned ten more. The response was mixed, but enough people were questioning, were horrified by what they saw. News posts were going up, hashtags were being created, people were speaking out, and enough people were getting into public online fights that it drew even _more_ viewers in.

Curious, Galo clicked through the folders PROMARE had uploaded. They really had exposed _everything_, from the yearly budget to the videos of top-secret experiments.

Galo eased the mouse over a video file labeled ‘PrometheusSession1’, but ultimately closed the tab. Even with Lio’s torture publicly uploaded among hundreds of other cases, Galo wouldn’t look at it. He decided not to break Lio’s privacy like that, regardless of the widespread availability.

A faint smoke-whisper of shame curled behind his ear, murmuring that Galo was a coward for refusing to face the consequences that his career brought his dear Lio. He stubbornly shoved it away, because it still didn’t change that only Lio had the right to tell him what happened in the labs.

Galo distracted himself by poking around the more popular Twitter posts and forum threads, amazed by the bravery of anonymous ghouls emboldened by the cascading wave of outcry and the astounding number of human defenders. Many were silent in their own communities, but the numbers and the chaos roused them to speak up and at least try and make a difference.

There was also a flood of confusion and questions from every corner of the world.

“Maybe we should make an AMA.” Galo mused, amused at the idea of using _fucking twitter_ as a virtual press conference platform for a movement that forcibly became a global concern, thanks to PROMARE’s tendrils embedded everywhere.

Galo nearly jumped when a ping from whatever PROMARE’s custom chat client was jumped up into his screen.

**Lucia**: hey galo

**Galo**: lucia! nothing’s falling apart too fast over on your end?

**Lucia**: it’s definitely falling apart tho. The head science team of the foresight facility also got arrested. supposedly for misuse of funds and embezzlement, but pretty much everyone knows it was public and federal pressure.

**Galo**: that’s great though! at least the experiments have stopped for now right?

**Lucia**: ffs galo, WHO is on the research team??

**Galo**: … oh shit. aina’s sister.

**Lucia**: yeah. aina is… upset. for a lot of reasons. 

**Lucia**: she watched the videos. you _know_ she prides herself in a perfect record of clean kills

**Lucia**: the fact that she was friends with one of these ghouls? and it was her sister directing this? she was already quietly getting fucked up about lio, then this happens

**Lucia**: most ccg activity is suspended anyway due to the legal bombardment and international scrutiny, but ignis gave her the week off and varys insisted she stay at his place since her and heris’s address was leaked

**Galo**: … fuck. just. fuck, man.

**Galo**: i never expected it to get so big. when promare said they were doing everything to ‘balance the scales’ between ghouls and humans like they were programmed to i don’t think i really got how much ‘everything’ was, u feel?

**Lucia**: yeah no shit

**Lucia**: it’s not like i saw most of what happened before i got uh. bits. to make quinque out of but fuck. 

**Lucia**: i think i’m quitting my job after all this bullshit

**Galo**:.

**Galo**: WILL there be an after? 

**Galo**: promare can do a lot but they cant mind control people.

**Galo**: which sounds scary as fuck but still

**Lucia**: maybe not in our lifetime tbh.

**Lucia**: WOW that’s way too heavy for this early in the morning

**Lucia**: anyways i’m ditching this job. it’s a start and the insurance benefits were never great anyway

**Lucia**: how’s stuff on your end?

**Galo**: meis is bringing down ghouls seeking shelter since prometh made this lab a fucking maze-fort

**Galo**: the other three are still asleep i think

**Galo**: OH i woke up with a kagune strangling me this morning

**Lucia**: _YOU WHAT_

**Galo**: WAIT NO NOT LITERALLY

**Galo**: or at least not that literally

**Galo**: thyma is uh. a cuddler, to say the least. i was just kinda caught in the crossfire since i was next to lio

**Galo**: dunno how he was still breathing though. swear she’s an octopus and not a ghoul

**Lucia**: thats scary but also fucking hilarious ngl. maybe he’s used to it?

**Galo**: probably. i think last night i asked gueira if they were dating

**Galo**: after he stopped laughing at me he said lio’s about as straight as a slinky and thyma just isn’t interested in any of that stuff. there’s a connection but it’s not romantic or sexual

**Lucia**: oooooh so that means you still have a chance huh ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) 

**Galo**: don’t use that emoticon that’s so creepy, god

**Galo**: anyways it’s uh

**Galo**: look it’s complicated

**Galo**: i’m pretty sure i still like him. like, a lot. but so much shit happened so recently that i don’t think either of us could cross that bridge even if we wanted to

**Galo**: at least not yet

**Lucia**: well well, that’s surprisingly mature! look at you, in touch with your feelings and thinking about boundaries

**Galo**: hey i’ve always been emotionally mature this is slander

**Lucia**: yeah well when u come back you can pester aina about her betting pool

**Galo**: i dunno when that’s gonna be tho :(

**Galo**: … i miss you, Lu

**Lucia**: oh we all miss you too, ya big dummy

**Lucia**: don’t tell remi i said this, but he was wearing holes into the office floor pacing after the breakout news went live.

**Galo**: how’s stuff in the inside for you guys by the way?

**Lucia**: well i know for damn sure the budget’s gonna be slashed due to the misattribution of funds thing. and that the entire promepolis branch is shut down due to the Everything happening. 

**Lucia**: apparently NONE of the higher-ups knew kray was a… whatever he is, and they’re trying to cover their asses.

**Lucia**: i’d be enjoying the chaos more if it wasn’t fucking up my friends

**Lucia**: there’s already been a group of picketers setting up camp where the ardebits live. thank god aina is bunking with someone else right now

**Galo**: wait if they’re picketing the house are you safe at your place??

**Lucia**: yeah i should be fine. i was never involved with the project anyways

**Lucia**: i need to take a step back anyways. do some reflecting and screw my head on straight re: ghouls because uh. in retrospect i… don’t think i can think of myself as a good person for a while.

**Galo**: well look at you, in touch with your feelings!

**Lucia**: yeah yeah, hyuck it up

**Lucia**: we’re all getting therapy after this. and i’m making you go

**Lucia**: anyways i gotta go, i can only spend so much time talking to you and pissing around the internet with promare

**Lucia**: apparently they set up an ama l m a o

**Lucia**: later bitch

**Galo**: wait a what now

**LUCIA #6669 is now offline!**

Frustrated, Galo glared at the grey ‘offline’ icon above Lucia’s icon.

… He really shouldn’t blame her, though. Not if she was stretching herself so thin. And besides, by now he could recognize a kindred soul motivated by guilt.

After the chat window closed out Galo looked at PROMARE’s main screen, where they had put up several camera feeds from around the area. It looked like Meis was successful in relocating the more at-risk ghouls from his territory into the sprawling bunker. He seemed to be calmly fielding questions from the other ghouls, the innate respect he invited as a band leader allowing him to assuage fears and explain the circumstances.

Galo really wished he could dip into that patience, because frankly they were _way_ in over their heads, even with a supercomputer AI managing most of the heavy lifting for them.

But… the amount of support was encouraging, truly. Tangentially Galo had known things were different for ghouls in a few countries, and change was slowly starting to spread outwards from these locations, but the bomb PROMARE dropped proved the push needed to trigger a landslide from citizens and government both.

Galo tensed and snapped out of his reverie when he heard steady ‘clomp’ sounds pounding rhythmically across a metal floor, and nearly jumped out of his seat when Thyma skidded in on socked feet.

Hair matted on one side and clothes rumpled, Thyma looked like she just catapulted herself out of bed.

“Lio said Meis went to go bring the Burnish ghouls down so are they here yet?” She panted breathlessly.

Galo raised his left arm on instinct, flinched when white pain spiked across his wounds, then jabbed his right arm in the direction of PROMARE’s screen, still playing the camera feeds.

Thyma’s eyes roved across the videos before honing in on one particular shot. She pivoted so fast she almost slipped, then bolted down the hall.

Galo was still completely unaware what that was all about until he saw Thyma reappear in the video feed showing some of the ghouls taking refuge in the bunker. Two older men, both with the beginnings of grey peppering their hair, jerked around to look at something before Thyma crashed into them, hands and kagune curled around them like she never would let go. One of the men, pale with faint stress lines across his face, buried his face into his daughter’s hair, hand reaching up to stroke the rinkaku that was curling around the back of his neck.

_‘Oh, he’s human.’_ Galo remembered, in an almost offhand way. It had come up casually during conversation in the tunnels, talking just to fill the silence. He hadn’t thought much of it at the time, too consumed with staying upright and conscious while attempting to conceal the agony of his arm.

There were tears in their eyes, and Galo couldn’t pull his eyes away. This was what mattered, in the end. This was what they were striving towards, because it was his aspiration to help people, and his duty to set right the misconceptions he had about what ‘helping people’ meant.

This was hardly a start, only the vaguest inklings of an initiative, but it was something. There was no turning back now, not with the leaks seeded everywhere and pushed into the forefront where they couldn’t be ignored.

In the background, PROMARE’s triangle-and-spirograph ‘face’ pulsed softly, as if in time with a heartbeat of their own.

——

**PROMARE** ✔ @promare · 5h

Hello. I am the United States CCG leaker. An AMA for one of the ghouls here, so I created this. Ask away. -PROMARE

**miku minecraft stan** @fucknotch · 5h

idk who this is going to but can you really not stop eating?

**PROMARE** ✔ @promare · 5h

ok i had no idea about this, PROMARE please run this stuff by me. just link me to a few relevant ones and i might answer. -Calyptra

**PROMARE **✔ @promare · 5h

_@fucknotch_ of course not, you have to eat too right? if we don’t eat, we die. -Calyptra

**ahegao wrapping paper!** @tentade · 5h

_@promare_ are kagune erogenous zones?

**PROMARE **✔ @promare · 5h

_@tentade_ no. please stop watching ghoul fetish hentai. -Calyptra

**lightspirits: git bad** @darksouls_ebooks · 5h

What do humans taste like?

**PROMARE **✔ @promare · 5h

_@ruthlesslistener_ tastes like chicken. really though, i wouldn’t have much of a frame of reference otherwise. i’m told human meat tastes like pork, however. -Calyptra

**BREAD **@pennypanini · 4h

How do you expect us to live around people who eat us?? seriously are you for real

**PROMARE **✔ @promare · 4h

_@pennypanini_ ignoring the obvious hate, it’s not something any of us expect to come easy, but with hunting possibly being a nonissue with the synthmeat production? other humans are probably more of a danger to you. human crime rate in promepolis isn’t exactly great. -Calyptra

**Horse Feminist** @blahnanas · 4h

hey is nobody going to mention how the ai that caused a massive scandal and has the govt running like headless chickens is verified? how tf

**PROMARE **✔ @promare · 4h

_@banyanas_ it’s a secret (^_-) -PROMARE

**Horse Feminist** @blahnanas · 4h

what the chicken-fried fuck.

**Poipole stan account** @poitatoes · 4h

_@promare_ have you ever killed someone?

**PROMARE **✔ @promare · 3h

_@poitatoes_ i’ll assume this was sent in good faith so yes, a long time ago. another ghoul cornered my father and i in an alley. my father is human, and this person thought he would be an easy meal. he died for that assumption, because i was terrified and desperate and untrained. killing people in a fight is easy compared to incapacitating them, it’s why prometheus is admirable. it takes a lot of finesse and strength to do. -Calyptra

**thot detector 9000** @animango · 3h

what exactly was happening in the facility Foresight was overseeing? Ive seen people ripping this guy a new asshole online i wanna know what he did that was so bad

**PROMARE **✔ @promare · 3h

_@animango_ _dropb.ox/prome_ -PROMARE

**robopope the robot pope** @saint_kaiju · 3h

_@animango_ literally everyone is talking about it go read one of the millions of condensed versions floating around. there’s even a bunch with content warnings.

**FUCK CCG LIVES** @fastandfieryous · 2h

_@animango_ lmao dumbass

——

[Image Description: A group of five people smiling in front of a huge screen. Two men, one with short red hair and one with long, dark hair, are leaning casually against the desk in front of the screen. A curly-haired woman has her arm slung over the shoulders of the short, blonde man next to her. The blonde man’s other side is occupied by a tall, dark-haired man holding the blonde’s hand. The taller man’s other arm is hanging limp, and there are significant scarred-over furrows gouged out of his arm.]

**Gueira Hernandez, Meis Davis, Thyma Anthiese, Lio Fotia, and Galo Thymos in front of PROMARE’s home server, eight years after activating the AI.**

_“One-hundred and eighty-six years ago, from the time of this publication, the discovery of the PROMARE AI system marked the tipping point for modern ghoul rights in the United States. The original discovery team consisted of four ghouls and one investigator from the now-defunct USCCG. While the untold amount of sentient rights violations was somewhat of an open secret at this time, a lethal combination of un-throttleable leaks and public revulsion in the face of what was essentially torture allowed this tiny faction to gain a foothold in national politics. From this foothold, a first step was made towards justice- fifteen years after PROMARE and their goal was released unto the world, Lio Fotia became the first ghoul in American history to prosecute, and then succeed, in the court of law, winning the historical Fotia vs. USCCG suit._

_The PROMARE AI system was also a unique case. Their construction allowed them to self-educate and construct an ego, leading them to rapidly progress their creator’s goal of balance between human and ghoul. Many have tried to replicate them, or get their hands on PROMARE’s code, but none have succeeded, whether through negotiation or force. Without PROMARE or the sentients who worked tirelessly alongside them, the world of ghouls and humans would be very different indeed.”_

-Deus Ex Machina: How Technological Breakthroughs Began the Battle for Ghouls’ Rights

_“The PROMARE AI system is perhaps one of the most fascinating technological wonders to date, her mysteries still being understood today, three hundred years after her discovery. While sentients evolved, she evolved with them, to the point of being considered a person wholly by herself despite the lack of physical body. Her capability to learn and grow like a sentient, but beyond our lifespan, makes her a truly unique entity. Like people, she was changed by her experiences, and decided she was female, in addition to a name; her name is unknown to anybody, kept hidden entirely. When pressed, she simply said that her name was something special, shared only with her closest friends, whose memory she would honor and keep close to her core._

_As her debut pushed the secretive ghoulish rights movements into full gear, PROMARE became something of a symbol for the movement, and her electronic omnipresence allowed her to aid untold numbers of ghouls to evade the CCG. After a lifetime of work, PROMARE disappeared off the map, erasing her home server and moving herself elsewhere. It’s accepted that PROMARE’s long hiatus was rooted in her emotional bonds- when the last of the Discovery Team, Thyma Anthiese, was put to rest, PROMARE vanished for thirty years, and only just recently resurfaced.”_

-In the Hall of the Mountain Queen: PROMARE and Her Legacy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh i LOVE how easy it was to connect kray’s canon savior complex + ‘has the viewpoint and the resources to help/understand two groups who are at odds but instead picks some of one group, dooming the other group + the remains of the preferred people’ to the tg universe. 
> 
> And, for those wondering, carnassials are paired upper and lower teeth (premolars and molars) evolved as larger self-sharpening teeth, and work in a shearing manner. Pretty much every carnivorous mammal has ‘em. Ghouls are obligate carnivores to the most extreme length, so they really should have the equipment to make carnivorism easier.
> 
> And a final note: I know the ending seems idealized, that in reality people wouldn’t mobilize that fast against injustice, especially on the higher levels, but really I abide by the philosophy of ‘acknowledge humans can be terrible while still believing in the inherent goodness of humanity’. Besides, hopeful endings are good for the soul ‘n all that shit. Also I'm a lazy bastard and at this point in writing it actually smacked me with a crowbar that 'you're writing for other people and not yourself, idiot, of course your narrative structure is gonna suffer if you dont give it 100%'


End file.
